Majestic Concorde to fly into Grand National field
Published:Majestic Concorde’ victory in the Paddy Power Chase in December may have resulted in him being given a fairly big weight to carry in the Grand National, but trainer Dermot Weld is still expecting to send the horse to Aintree for the biggest race in the horse racing calendar.
The eight-year-old has been kept off the course since his victory at Leopardstown over Christmas, but the way he stayed on in the latter stages seems to have struck a chord with the handicapper.
Despite being relatively inexperienced over the larger obstacles, Majestic Concorde is 33/1 in the Grand National betting, but will have his hands full attempting to carry 11st 5lb.
Although Weld thinks that carrying this weight to victory is a tough ask, he is seemingly increasingly likely to allow the horse to take his chance, as early forecasts suggest that he will at least have the ground in his favour.
Weld told At The Races: “It’s very possible he’ll run. We’ll school him on Tuesday morning and we’ll see how he is after that but the plan is to run if he’s okay.
“We know he’ll like the ground but I do think he has a lot of weight considering his experience.”
Majestic Concorde’s inexperience is one potential hindrance to his Grand National chances as all of the last ten winners have had a minimum of ten runs over fences, while he has only had seven.
Meanwhile, horses carrying over 11st do not have the greatest record in the race.
Yet despite these negatives, Majestic Concorde does have some things in his favour.
A previous victory over three miles is seen as a necessity and Majestic Concorde accomplished this in the Paddy Power Chase, while the triumph also came on heavy ground, which highlights that he should have no stamina issues.
Furthermore, Irish-trained horses have won five of the last nine renewals of the Grand National.
A £20 stake on Majestic Concorde winning the Grand National would return £660. New customers can sign up here to take advantage of free bets totalling up to £60.
