Liam Firkin shares his best betting tip for the upcoming Grand National.
2026 Grand National
Tip 1: GORGEOUS TOM - 0.75 Pts EW (5 Places)
Best odds of 33/1 at bet365 while publishing.
Henry De Bromhead won this with Minella Times in 2021 during a season where Rachel Blackmore could do no wrong. I do think he has a fantastic chance with GORGEOUS TOM (33/1) in this year’s renewal. If the ground continues to dry the way it has over the course of the last couple of weeks that will certainly suit this 8-year-old gelding who I think we’ve only scratched the surface with regards to his stamina.
He ran a good fourth in last year‘s Brown Advisory Novice Chase at Cheltenham but the most appealing piece of form came at Newbury earlier this season in what is now, The Coral Gold Cup. He was fourth again in that race when Panic Attack bolted in following her Paddy Power Gold Cup success and it’s not often that you would suggest that the fourth placed horse was more likely to get competitive with the winner than the second and third, but that was certainly the case on that day. He was hugely inconvenienced by the standing start when Darragh O’Keeffe was still taking a turn at the back of the pack before the starter let them go and that put the nail in the coffin very early on from a win perspective before they’d even got going.
However, he stayed on better than anything else in the field and had no right to finish where he did. A sound jumper and if he takes to the National fences which I have no reason to think he wouldn’t, that could see him get competitive at Aintree, especially with ideal going conditions forecasted. Naturally, like any Grand National, he will need luck in running but I don’t think we’ve seen the bottom of his stamina and this trip could bring out further improvement.
