Training titans go head-to-head as Dan Skelton bids to pull off a Grand National gamble and prevent more Mullins domination

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Holding a big lead and looking odds-on to win the title is all very well but there is nothing better than landing a famous trophy on the way – whether you are Dan Skelton or Mikel Arteta.

The Arsenal boss has seen his team blow that opportunity twice in the last fortnight and knows that a nine-point lead can Devon Loch down to nothing when perennial Premier League champions Manchester City are on your tail.

Dan Skelton can be more confident that he has the trainers' title race sewn up in 2025-26 after twice being caught on the final day of the season. Not even the magician that is Willie Mullins is going to overtake him this time and the bookmakers have stopped betting on it.

Dan Skelton: The bookmakers have stopped betting on the trainers' championship as he is so far clear Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

But the Grand National is still his rival's big, shiny trophy – like the League Cup, a competition which Guardiola has won a record five times and in which his side comprehensively beat Arsenal at Wembley last month. 

Mullins has won the last two Nationals and dominated last year's race to an extent that was extraordinary even by his own extraordinary standards, sending out the first three home and five of the first seven.

Nor is he in any mood to loosen his grip as he bids for a record-equalling fourth success today, saddling eight of the 34 runners even after 2025 winner Nick Rockett was ruled out by a late bout of coughing.

Last year's winner Nick Rockett was a late withdrawal from the Grand NationalCredit: Getty Images

Yet having not even had a runner in the race last year, Skelton is now taking him on head on. And the market signals suggest he could come out on top this time.

I Am Maximus, who won for Mullins (obviously) in 2024, has topped the betting ever since it became clear that number one jockey Paul Townend had resisted temptation and was going to stay loyal to a horse on which he also finished second last year.

Yet those who have been following Skelton on a Saturday through this season have accumulated quite a handy bank and seem to be playing up their winnings.

His Panic Attack has been so heavily backed in the last 24 hours that she is now in serious danger of going off favourite, having been a 14-1 shot when confirmations were made on Monday.

Will there be more celebrations after Panic Attack runs in the Grand National today?Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

“Willie's won more Grand Nationals than me and his horse should be favourite, not mine,” was Skelton’s response, which is a self-effacing response from a trainer who has been more than happy to let the horses do the talking during a season in which he has smashed the record for prize-money won in a British jumps season.

Panic Attack has played a full part, keeping the yard’s Saturday supporters club in business with wins in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham and Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, the autumn’s two most competitive handicap chases.

Panic Attack (Harry Skelton) wins the Paddy Power Gold Cup at CheltenhamCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

It was the second of those wins that prompted thoughts of Aintree, according to Bryan Drew who labelled his hobby of racehorse ownership “a glorified waste of money” in these pages recently but whose enthusiasm shone through as he explained: “She’s got loads of stamina and will like the fences.”

A win in a mares’ chase at Newbury and a third in the Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham followed and Skelton said: “We're very pleased with her and her preparation has gone well. She looks fantastic and is in the form of her life and is having the season of her life. If it's ever going to happen, it will be this time.

“I have no negatives but we're trying to win a Grand National, which is a pretty hard thing to do. She's gone up in the ratings all season, but she's in there off 10st 5lb, so she needed to do that to get in.

“I don't think she hides much but she has a phenomenal tenacity to race. The trip will be no issue and I don't think the fences will faze her, it's just a question of whether she's good enough to do it.”

If she is, her record-breaking trainer will be making a little more history as no mare has won the National since Nickel Coin in 1951.

That was a very different era, when the fences were a serious test. A quarter of a million people were at Aintree for a race in which 12 of the 36 runners were put out of the contest at the first and only three completed the course, with Royal Tan seemingly going best until a bad mistake at the last.

Of course, Skelton is one for a challenge and when told that no mare had won for 75 years he said: “I like that because it means it's going to get broken at some point.”

Such is the rarity value of Nickel Coin’s victory that Aintree decided to name its mares’ bumper after her.

It was run on Thursday and Skelton won it with Nan’s Choice. Obviously. It has been that sort of season for him.

Read more Aintree Raceday Intel:

2026 Grand National pinstickers' guide: runners, tips and Keith Melrose's ratings for all 34 runners 

2026 Grand National 1-2-3-4 predictions: Racing Post experts predict the first four home in the big race at Aintree 

'If I had to pick one I’d go with him' - inside the Willie Mullins camp with a Grand National hat-trick on the line 

Six chances in the Grand National for JP McManus - but will one yard hold the key to the leading owner's chances of a fourth win? 

Welsh history, the £100 horse and first chances for those whose families are steeped in Grand National history 

There might be 34 runners but our in-depth Grand National guide points to one standout contender - who fits the bill? 

'He's been trained for the race and I wouldn't swap him' - key quotes and analysis for the undercard races on Grand National day 

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