The Grand National field is almost set - and history suggests this Aintree hope will miss out

While final declarations for this year's Randox Grand National have been brought forward by 24 hours, and will be known on Wednesday morning this year, in practice the field has tended to be more or less set at the five-day stage in recent seasons.

This will be the third year of the race being restricted to 34 runners. In 2024, at this point there were 52 left in contention and one outside the cut-off on Monday (Kitty's Light) snuck in at declarations time. Last year, 57 were left at this stage and the field did not change at all between Monday and Saturday.

Bringing forward the final stage is unlikely to make things more changeable. However, there is good reason to think that at least Pied Piper, currently number 35, will make it in on Wednesday. Spillane's Tower, currently number seven, was confirmed but is expected to line up in Thursday's Bowl instead. Declarations for that race, on Tuesday, ought to make things clearer.