An early 33-1 tip for the 2025 Randox Grand National

Willie Mullins and JP McManus teamed up to land last year’s Randox Grand National and I fancy the pair may well strike again on April 5, only this time with a different horse.

I Am Maximus was a commanding winner for the pair in 2024 and is on course to defend his title but my early fancy for this year’s contest, following the unveiling of the weights on Tuesday, is his stablemate and general 33-1 chance Meetingofthewaters.

He was an honourable seventh in the race as a novice last year after jumping and travelling superbly for 95 per cent of the race, with his in-running odds shrinking to about 11-4.

It looked like Meetingofthewaters was betrayed by a lack of stamina in the closing stages but there were several other factors that need considering before hastily putting a line through his name for this year.

For starters, the ground was soft and the emphasis firmly on stamina last year, with the winning time being 9min 27.68 sec. 

Corach Rambler had stopped the clock in a time 17 seconds quicker the previous year (on good to soft going), while Noble Yeats (9min 3sec) and Tiger Roll (9min 1sec) have been recent winners who have won in much quicker times on much better going.

Meetingofthewaters would be unlucky, then, to encounter such testing conditions for a second time.

Moreover, he'd also had a gruelling race when third to handicap snip Chianti Classico (was trying to give him 4lb) in the Ultima on heavy ground at Cheltenham the previous month, having previously been in action five times that season – including at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting plus the Dublin Racing Festival.

So, he was not exactly a fresh horse heading to Liverpool and clearly he had not been trained specifically for the great race. By contrast, none of the first four home had run more than four times during the campaign, and none had been in action after February 24.

Meetingofthewaters has had a much lighter campaign this time and looks like lining up with much fuller energy reserves.

He didn’t make his return until late December, when easy to back and shaping as if need of the run under a 7lb conditional, and on his latest start he was given a spin over hurdles at Leopardstown, presumably just to keep him ticking over.

Plenty will have been disappointed that he was unable to exploit a much lower mark over the smaller obstacles but he’s simply a different horse over fences, with one of his biggest assets being his athletic jumping.

Nothing leapt better than him in the National, when the RaceiQ data reveals he gained more than 22 lengths over the 30 obstacles. That was about nine lengths superior to anything else in the race.

He’s going to race off a rating (148) just 1lb higher and, as things stand, will have a lovely racing weight of 10st 7lb. He's 43 on the list of entries and will need a minimum of nine horses to come out to get a run, but he would be desperately unfortunate not to make the cut.

Six of the past eight winners have carried under 11st and, like five of the past nine victors, he will line up as an eight-year-old. There has not been a winner aged older than nine in the past decade, with the modifications clearly tilting things in favour of those who have younger legs.

Mark Walsh, stable jockey for McManus, is going to be spoilt for choice when it comes to his choice of ride and might easily opt for something else.

Danny Mullins was aboard Meetingofthewaters last year, and also partnered him to success in last season’s Paddy Power Chase. I’d have no complaints if he again gets the call.

McManus has eight other entries in the race and will no doubt want to deploy one or two of his possibles in the BoyleSports Irish Grand National on April 21. But I will be shocked if Meetingofthewaters is not in his thoughts for Aintree and it was reassuring to hear Mullins speak positively about him on Tuesday. 

“I think Meetingofthewaters has a lovely weight," he said. "He ran very well last year and I think my eye was drawn to him when I saw his weight. He’s one I like.”

Meetingofthewaters had been freely available at 50-1 on Tuesday morning, but he's been trimmed to 33-1, including with Sky Bet, who are already offering six places for each-way players.

The ante-post betting suggests McManus's three principal Aintree contenders are I Am Maximus, Inothewayurthinkin and Iroko, but it may not be that straightforward.

Click here for a closer look at all the McManus contenders.