2022 Randox Grand National: Gordon Elliott Stable Tour

It has been 15 years since Silver Birch provided Gordon Elliott with his first Randox Grand National success under Robbie Power, a day the leading Irish handler fondly recalls.

Elliott recently posted a photo of Silver Birch (below), which was taken during celebrations of his Grand National victory when he returned to Ireland, onto Twitter and will bid for his fourth victory in the Aintree showpiece on Saturday having won the race twice with Tiger Roll since.

“It doesn’t seem like 15 years ago,” Elliott said when discussing Silver Birch’s Grand National win on Racing TV’s On The Wire video podcast. “I hadn’t trained a winner in Ireland at the time, and I think we’d only trained three winners in Britain, so it was a big stepping-stone for my career. Most people didn’t know who I was!”

Elliott also provided the inside track on his seven contenders in this year’s Randox Grand National when chatting to Johnny Ward and Brendan Duke.

Delta Work, who was last seen defeating Tiger Roll in the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, is vying for favouritism, and stablemate Escaria Ten is also prominent in the betting. However, Elliott is expecting a bold show from some of his bigger-priced contenders.

Watch and read more from Elliott below discussing his seven runners in the 2022 Randox Grand National.

The softer the ground, the better chance he’d have, but he is in good form and he's well.

I like him. I think he’s got a lovely weight on his back of 10st 7lb and Jordan Gainford rides him. He actually ran well at Cheltenham and wasn’t beaten a million miles; he just didn’t get the run of the race. He ran well in the Paddy Power Chase and won the Grand National Trial this season.

He’s a dual Grade One winner. If he got a bit of luck for the first mile of the race, he’ll have a big chance.

He’s been in great order (since Cheltenham) and I couldn’t be happier with him. Jack Kennedy schooled him over fences on Wednesday morning and he had a smile on his face afterwards. He was also on the beach the other morning. If I’m being honest, I haven’t done much galloping with him since as he was pretty fit going to Cheltenham, but he’s definitely in good form and moving well plus he’s very happy in himself.

We had him over at Cheltenham probably a month before the Festival, and every morning we schooled him at Cheltenham, I was getting more and more nervous that he was going to beat Tiger Roll and when the rain came, it went totally against Tiger Roll.

It will probably be good to soft ground on Saturday, and it won’t bother him whatsoever. If it does rain, that won’t bother him, either. The ground just suited him better at Cheltenham than Tiger Roll. I’m not worried about the ground for Delta Work.

He probably didn’t get the credit he deserved at Cheltenham, but if he wins the Grand National on Saturday, he definitely will.

Escaria Ten is in very good form. He had a great prep for this and we’re very happy with him. I think this race will really, really suit him.

She just never got into a rhythm at Cheltenham. We have treated her back since and she schooled very well on Wednesday morning. I’ve put cheekpieces on her and if she got into a rhythm in the first mile of the race, she would come home strong. The first mile of the race will be the most important for her, though. She’s got a big engine and she wouldn’t be out of it if she behaved for the first mile.

He was second in the Irish National last year and second in the National Hunt Chase this year. I’d say he got beat by a very good horse at Cheltenham.

Initially, when he passed the line at Cheltenham, I was a little bit disappointed, but when I looked back through all the form, he beat Gavin Cromwell’s horse (Vanillier) further than he did at Leopardstown on his penultimate start, maybe the winner was just good on the day.

Our lad has loads of experience in big handicaps and has graded form. The better the ground, the better the chance he’d have.

It would be typical Samcro to come back and win the Grand National, wouldn’t it?

To be honest, he probably isn’t what he was, but he hasn’t been easy to train, and he’s had a lot of sinus problems. We have worked very hard with our whole team at home, along with all the vets as he’s had a few sinus operations, but he’s 80-1 in places, and I wouldn’t tell anyone not to have a few quid each-way on. He schooled over fences on Wednesday morning and was absolutely brilliant.

He wasn’t back cantering for long before Down Royal, following his operation, but I had to run him as he didn’t qualify for the Grand National if he didn’t finish in the first four, so that’s why we ran him.

If I had it my way, I’d have gone straight to the National, but he’s in good form. If the ground doesn’t get really testing, and the sun is out, don’t rule him out.

Samcro is one of the favourites in the yard, and Sean Bowen is a name you're going to be hearing an awful lot more of over the next couple of years. I think he's a very good rider.