Final 12 months’s winner Nick Rockett has been withdrawn from this weekend’s Grand Nationwide at Aintree.
Nick Rockett – skilled by Willie Mullins and ridden by his son Patrick – completed two-and-a-half lengths away from 2024 winner I Am Maximus 12 months in the past, however has been declared a non-runner having been reported to be coughing.
He was trying to change into simply the second back-to-back winner since Crimson Rum was a triple champion within the Seventies.
When the 2026 area was introduced on Wednesday, Patrick had opted to trip final 12 months’s third-placed horse Grangeclare West as a substitute, with Tom Bellamy surprisingly choosing up the trip on Nick Rockett.
First reserve Pied Piper, who’s skilled by three-time winner Gordon Elliott, was given the spare place within the 34-runner area, however he isn’t taking on the choice as a result of he was lame on Thursday.
Imperial Saint, skilled by Philip Hobbs & Johnson White, will now be the ultimate runner.
I Am Maximus is the 7-1 favorite for the race, however must change into the primary prime weight to win the race since Crimson Rum in 1974.
He can be ridden by Paul Townend for the third 12 months in a row – one in all eight Mullins-trained horses now within the area – as he seems to be to change into the primary coach to win the race in three successive years since Vincent O’Brien between 1953 and 1955.
Townend completed second to 33-1 probability Nick Rockett in final 12 months’s race, when Mullins horses claimed the primary three positions.
The Grand Nationwide begins at 16:00 BST on Saturday.
