When Noble Yeats romped to victory in the 2022 Grand National, pundits everywhere were stunned. He was 7 years old, a novice, and had never attempted a race of that distance.

To make matters worse, Sam Waley-Cohen, the jockey partnering Noble Yeats, was an amateur.

To be fair to Waley-Cohen, he was also one of the most successful jockeys around the Aintree course, but many still assumed that this would just be a bit of a farewell as he had already announced his post-race retirement.

Yet, at odds of 50/1, they both proved us wrong!

It just goes to show that picking a National winner is very difficult. Nevertheless, we can show you a couple of things to look out for when selecting your horses.

Every now and again, a horse like Noble Yeats will win the big one. However, horses that usually win the Grand National fall into a narrow band of statistics.

LOOKING FOR IN A POTENTIAL WINNER

Generally, we'd advise against backing a horse that carries over 10-13 in weight, even with the recent wins of Nick Rockett, I Am Maximus, Tiger Roll, Many Clouds, and Neptune Collonges, who all carried more than 11-03 to victory; they remain the exception that proves the rule.

Since Corbiere carried over 11st to victory in 1983 only a few runners have done the same.

Nick Rockett in 2025, I Am Maximus in 2026 and 2024, Tiger Roll in 2019, Many Clouds in 2015, Neptune Collonges,Hedgehunter & Don't Push It have equalled the feat.

The simple fact is that very few horses have managed to win carrying big weights.

Tiger Roll won in 2018, carrying just 10-13. In 2021, Minella Times was 10-03, and in 2022, Noble Yeats carried 10-10 to victory. Even the 2023 winner, Corach Rambler, was only burdened with 10-05.

Great horses, with plenty of experience around the course, usually find themselves with heavy weights after the BHA Handicapper does his job.

While many of them go on to place in the top five, few actually win the race.

IT’S A MARATHON NOT A SPRINT

The Grand National is a grueling race, and we've always maintained that only horses experienced at running over 3 miles or more can be expected to be in with a shout.

BHA recommendations regarding this have now been put in place so that only horses who have previously finished fourth or better in a chase of 3m or further will be allowed entry.

Don't rule out horses that have previously entered and completed the Grand National, even if they finished nowhere.

Mon Mome, Silver Birch, Hedgehunter, Amberleigh House, and Montys Pass are all winners who also ran unsuccessfully the year before!

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY

Age is one of the best indicators of a horse's chances of winning the Grand National. Look for runners who are aged 8 or 9, as the majority of winners in the last ten years have fallen within this bracket.

Eight of the last ten winners, meanwhile, have been 8 or 9. Be wary of backing any seven-year-olds as Noble Yeats was the first in 75 years to win the race, and few even finish the course!

FRENCH FANCY?

French-bred and trained horses don't have a stellar record in the race. A tremendous win from French horse Mon Mome in 2009, and Neptune Collonges in 2012, looked like it could have been the beginning of a change in their fortunes.

However, those two winners were trained in the United Kingdom, and none have won since.

In fact, it has been over a Century since the last French-trained horse won the National.

Every now and then, a major upset happens at the Grand National and the rule book goes out the window, but if you want to give yourself the best chance of picking a winner, then consider our tips...

TIPS TO FOLLOW

Go for an eight/ nine-year-old horse carrying between 10-03 to 11-03 stone, experience running at Aintree is preferred and statistically, the horse will have already won a decent race where the prize money was £17,000 or bigger.

Let's look at the 2018 race - I followed my tips exactly, chose my horses and they came home in 1st and 2nd place!

I looked at every horse running, ruled out those younger than 8 and older than 10 years, looked at the weights they'd been given, and had a quick gander at the distances they had previously run.

What I ended up with was a few terrific horses two of which did exactly as hoped - Tiger Roll came 1st with Pleasant Company in 2nd in the 2018 Grand National.

Now all you need to do is pick a horse to back using our tips! To view the full list of Grand National runners, Click Here.