Cape Gentleman Worth a 50/1 Wager in 2023 Grand National
The 2023 Grand National is four months away. But now could be the best time to pinpoint some big-priced contenders who might have a big say in the world’s most famous steeplechase.
Eventual winner Noble Yeats (nearside) jumps alongside Any Second Now at the final fence in the 2022 Randox Grand National. The pair led home an Irish-trained 1-2-3. @GettyImages
It was BBC broadcaster and scientist James Burke who famously posed the question: “Why should we look to the past in order to prepare for the future?” He immediately answered the query by adding: “Because there is nowhere else to look.”
Subscribing to his theory leads punters to the results of recent Grand Nationals. And those formbooks immediately suggest there is little point in looking beyond Irish-trained horses for the Aintree marathon in 2023.
2017 was the last time Europe’s most valuable jumps race went to a horse not trained in Ireland. That year, Scotland’s One For Arthur fended off the Irish-trained Cause Of Causes. But it has been one-way traffic ever since.
Ireland Has Been on Grand National Roll
In 2018, Tiger Roll led home a 1-2-3-4 for horses trained in Ireland. The same horse scored again in 2019 when compatriots Magic Of Light and Rathvinden filled second and third. Ireland did not claim the 2020 Grand National – the race was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic!
But Ireland’s trainers surpassed themselves in 2021 with Rachael Blackmore – and her mount Minella Times – spearheading a 1-2-3-4-5 for the raiders. The best the home defense could muster the following year was fourth with Santini.
That race fell to a 50/1 shot, Noble Yeats under Sam Waley-Cohen. He became the first amateur jockey to win the Grand National in 42 years. Ireland’s Any Second Now improved on his 2021 third to finish runner-up and Delta Work – winner of the Glenfarclas Chase at the Cheltenham Festival – took third for the Emerald Isle.
And so, five of the last six Grand National winners have been trained in Ireland. It is an amazing record when considering, in the 44 years following Quare Times’ 1955 victory, Ireland only landed the race once before Bobbyjo took the contest for Paul Carberry in 1999.
Looking for a Story Befitting a National Winner
As James Burke said: “There is nowhere else to look.” Ireland must be considered odds-on to land the Randox 2023 Grand National. For most, the Gordon Elliott stable is the obvious focal point. Silver Birch put the trainer on the map when winning the race in 2007. Tiger Roll gave him two more victories in 2018 and 2019.
But the National is famous for its stories. The 2016 winner of the four-miles and two-furlong marathon, Rule The World, entered racing folklore when scoring for the relatively small Irish yard of Michael ‘Mouse’ Morris. Remarkably, he was a novice chaser that had not won over fences in 13 attempts.
2023 may produce a similar story with another small but popular yard – that of John ‘Shark’ Hanlon – having a live chance with a potentially well-treated young horse, Cape Gentleman.
Age has become a theme with recent National winners. The reigning champion, Noble Yeats, was just seven when he landed the prize. Before his success, the last time a seven-year-old had won the National was in 1940. And Grand National winners have been getting noticeably younger in recent times. From 2015 to 2021 inclusive, only eight and nine-year-olds have won the famous race.
Pints on the National Winner
Hanlon became an internet sensation during the autumn when taking his 2022 American Grand National winner, Hewick into his local pub for a pint of Guinness as a celebration. The bigger story was his horse’s purchase price of €850. Considerably less than the cost of his flight ticket to Far Hills Racecourse in New Jersey!
So… a horse walks into a bar pic.twitter.com/QVs9Z4ScZU
— John Hanlon Racing (@jhanlonracing) October 31, 2022
On his previous start, Hewick had fallen in the Kerry National at the final fence with victory looking more likely than probable. Also taking a tumble at the final fence of that contest was Cape Gentleman. Our Grand National tip – currently 50/1 with the best horse racing betting sites – was then trained by Emmet Mullins.
Mullins had steered Cape Gentleman to success in the Irish Cesarewitch on the flat in October 2020. Graded success in novice hurdles and novice chases has followed. Now, as a 151-rated chaser, the Irish-bred horse that began his career in France is qualified to run in the National. Resultantly, he has been sold to new owners and transferred to the Hanlon yard.
Cape Can Land a Historic Family Double
The first rule of betting ante-post on horse racing is to determine, with some degree of certainty, that connections of a horse you plan to back intend to target the race in question. For Cape Gentleman supporters, this has recently been confirmed.
“He [Cape Gentleman] is a high-class horse. He will run over Christmas somewhere, but he is one I have bought for American owners, whose great-grandfather won the National in 1923,” Hanlon said last week. “They want to have a runner in it next year because it is 100 years down the road. I bought this horse for them.”
A second Grand National victory for an American family ten decades apart would rate a relatively big story. And while nothing is certain in horse racing, it appears the seeds have been sown for another memorable Grand National winner’s tale.
