A further two horses have been scratched from the 2025 Grand National.
We are one entry stage closer to the Grand National field being confirmed and today we have had two further scratchings for the big race.
The most notable non-runner at this stage is a rather big miss with the sad news that last year’s runner up Delta Work sadly passed away due to a case of colic at the age of 12.
He has been a tremendous servant to the racing world having won three times at the Cheltenham Festival which included a win in the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle and also two wins in the Cross Country Chase.
Delta Work had run in the Grand National three times and showed a lot of class to finish third, then unseated seated next time, before running a huge race behind I Am Maximus last year at the age of 11 to finish second.
He was one of the most genuine horses in training and will be a big miss to this year’s Grand National, but this does leave a space for a new contender to join the race.
The other notable scratching at this stage of the entries is the JP McManus owned Fakir D’Oudairies. He is another horse who has been fantastic for the sport but his scratching could well be due to having another target bookmarked for the Aintree.
The Joseph O’Brien trained gelding is a multiple graded winner which includes back-to-back Grade 1’s at Aintree in the Melling Chase and could well be on course for a return to the same race this year.
He ran a huge race in defeat to finish second in last year’s renewal when bidding to make it three wins in a row in the race and despite now being a 10 year old, it is more than possible that he could have one more big day in the sun!
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Now with the unfortunate scratchings of both Delta Work and Fakir D’Oudairies, this does however give the opportunity for two new arrivals into the Grand National weights as Coko Beach and Farouk D’Alene now enter the qualified numbers for the big race at numbers 33 and 34.
Coko Beach has run in the Grand National three times and will be looking to make it fourth time lucky this season. His form figures in the Grand National read 8-P-0, but he does have some strong form at Aintree after finishing second in the Becher Handicap Chase off a mark of 162 and it would be dangerous to write him off especially with his mark for the Grand National being 12lb less than last year at 150.
He will represent the same trainer and owner combination of Gordon Elliot and Gigginstown who sadly lost Delta Work and he is a fantastic addition to the current entry list that qualify for the race.
The other runner that now qualify is an ex-Elliott trained horse called Farouk D’Alene. He now represents Gary Brown who is a fantastic trainer and it would be great to see him represented in this year’s Grand National.
Farouk D’Alene is a very lightly raced 10yo who has Aintree experience already but things didn’t go to plan as he pulled up in last year’s renewal of the race. He isn't here without a hope though.
That experience could be just what he needed and he will run off a mark 1lb lower than his latest winning mark so if he gets himself into a good rhythm early on, he has every right to cause a shock and outrun his previous Grand National position. He also ran in the race off 154 last year so he is coming down to a much more workable mark, and he could be a real dark horse to contend with in this year’s big race.
We may have had two further scratchings at the second entry stage, but these two are brilliant additions to the race and has us one step closer to the big day in April.
The six scratchings since the first entry staged close so far have been Gerri Colombe, The Goffer, Gevrey, Copperhead, and the latest two scratchings of Delta Work and Fakir D’Oudairies. The field is now starting to shape up!
