March and April are special months for horse racing fans with Cheltenham Festival taking place in March and the Grand National the following month. Cheltenham Festival 2022 was another successful event that once again provided fans with memorable moments, such as Grand National-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore becoming the first female winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The 2022 Grand National is set to be equally as exciting with hundreds of thousands expected to attend, as well as millions more following at home through the many sites with free bets that can be used during the event.
Several of the best trainers in horse racing celebrated huge wins at Cheltenham Festival 2022. The likes of Henry De Bromhead, Willie Mullins, Nigel Twiston Davis, Gordon Elliot, Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson were all successful at Cheltenham this year but will not be able to relax yet with the Grand National on the Horizon. Each of them has several horses entered for the race and will be hoping to repeat their triumphs at Aintree.
Henry De Bromhead
Prolific Irish trainer Henry De Bromhead enjoyed another successful Cheltenham Festival with three of his horses managing wins. The first win came on the opening day in its marquee event, The Champion Hurdle, which was won by Honeysuckle alongside Rachael Blackmore. De Bromhead’s second win at The Festival didn’t come until day three when 7-year-old Bob Olinger rode to victory with Blackmore in the Novices’ Chase. The most impressive win for one of De Bromhead’s runners came in the main event of The Festival, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. A Plus Tard helped both he and Blackmore to their third win of the four-day event, while another one of the Irish trainer’s runners, Minella Indo, made it a De Bromhead one-two.
De Bromhead is expected to have a number of his expertly trained horses at Grand National weekend, such as Notebook and Spyglass Hill in the Topham Handicap Chase. At least three of his horses, Chris’s Dream, Court Maid and Minella Times, are expected to make the final 40 for the namesake race. So, he’ll be hoping to be celebrating more victories once the Grand National is over.
Nicky Henderson
Cheltenham Festival legend Nicky Henderson enjoyed another successful edition with two wins and six second-place finishes. Constitution Hill won the Supreme Novices Hurdle on the opening day by a stunning 22 lengths, before Marie’s Rock earned a victory later that day with the same jockey, Nico de Boinville.
At Grand National weekend, Henderson is expected to be able to count on at least five representatives, including Another Venture in the Foxhunter’s Open Hunter’s Chase and both Emir Sacree and Mister Coffey in the Topham Handicap Chase. Another Henderson-trained runner, Caribbean Boy has been entered for the Grand National and is expected to make the final cut.
Willie Mullins
Willie Mullins is another legendary trainer who enjoyed some big wins at Cheltenham this year. There were wins for 10 of his horses including Sir Gerhard in the Novices’ Hurdle, Energumene in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Allaho in the Ryanair Chase.
Mullins will have to exceed his own high standards once again if he is to match his Cheltenham success at Aintree, although he is expected to have fewer representatives of his stables at the April event. His entries include Royal Rendevouz, Blackbow and Annamic in the Topham Handicap Chase, as well as Brahma Bull, Burrows Saint, Class Conti and Agusta Gold in the main event.
Gordon Elliot
More than 10 of the horse trained by Gordan Elliot placed in the top three at Cheltenham Festival with two of them, Commander of Fleet and Delta Work achieving wins. Those victories both came on the second day, in the Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle and the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase.
Elliot has entered several horses for races at Aintree on Grand National weekend including It’s All Guesswork and Mighty Stowaway in the Foxhunter’s Open Hunter’s Chase and both Samcro and Battleoverdoyen in the Topham Handicap Chase. He is expected to have at least five of his horses in the Grand National Handicap Chase, such as Delta Work, Run Wild Fred and Farclas.