Top trainer Paul Nicholls

Top Grand National Trainers

Below are the profiles of four trainers who between them will have favoured Grand National runners. Each trainer has an outstanding record in National Hunt racing and all, if they have not already are more than capable of training a Grand National winner.

Before the profiles however, we list the records of the top five trainers at Aintree generally. The statistics include a winners to rides ratio and the percentage return of a £1 pound stake.

Aintree Trainers Statistics

Over the last five seasons, the following trainers have performed the best at Aintree Racecourse.

Trainer	Wins-Rides	%	Return
Paul Nicholls	23-173	13%	- 59.63
J Howard-Johnson	15-99	15%	- 34.21
Jonjo O'Neill	13-96	15%	+17.67
Alan King	12-103	12%	- 34.82
Peter Bowen	12-73	16%	+79.33

Leading Trainers with Runners

The following trainers are always favourites with punters and the four selected will usually manage to have a fancied Grand National runner.

Willie Mullins

Champion trainer of Ireland and a man who is more closely associated with saddling high Grade winners than Handicappers, Mullins has saddled one winner so far at Aintree.

That winner however, was none other than the great Hedgehunter, who won the 2005 Grand National with Ruby Walsh on board. Hedgehunter almost equalled the feat of Red Rum, by winning back to back Grand Nationals, but failed narrowly to do so in 2006 when second behind Numbersixvalverde.

Master trainer, Mullins also saddled the third horse home in the 2008 Grand National, Snowy Morning.

Nigel Twiston-Davies

One of the most popular of English trainers, Nigel has saddled two Grand National winners so far in his illustrious career and has one of the favourites to win again this year in Tricky Trickster.

His two winners were the great Earth Summit who won in 1998 and again in the 2002 Grand National with Bindaree.

Nigel has been one of the top NH trainers in the UK for many years, but this season so far, he is excelling himself and sits second in the Prize money race behind Paul Nicholls. A win in this with Tricky Trickster could see him run Nicholls very close by the time of the season end.

Dessie Hughes

Although yet to train a winner or even a placed horse in the Grand National, top Irish trainer Dessie Hughes will come to Aintree in the knowledge that he has two live chances with Black Apalachi and Vic Venturi. Both of these two sit high in the betting and both have had excellent preparation for the race. Vic Venturi has already won over the Aintree fences, winning the Becher Chase in November, while Black Apalachi has been one of the favourites for both the 2008 Grand National and the 2009 Grand National, despite the fact that he failed to get round on either occasion.

Hughes was a top class jockey who rode winners in both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle and who has subsequently trained several winners at the Cheltenham Festival. These winners include the great Hardy Eustace who won the Champion Hurdle in successive years in 2004/5 and remains his most successful horse to date.

Paul Nicholls

Long overdue a Grand National winner, the Champion trainer will have at least three Grand National runners this year from which he will hope to improve upon the excellent third place gained by My Will last year, behind Mon Mome.

Most of Nicholls hopes will rest with the brilliant Denman, who will have to carry an almighty weight around Aintree if he is to win. At this stage however it is not sure whether or not Denman will take his chance, much will depend upon his Cheltenham Gold Cup battle with stablemate, Kauto Star coming only three weeks before the National.

Despite the incredible success of the Nicholls yard in the National Hunt Graded races and at the Cheltenham Festival, the best the Champion trainer has managed in the Grand National so far was second with Royal Auclair in the 2005 Grand National.