BoyleSports Irish Grand National: a fab four for the shortlist

The spotlight has firmly shone on the seven-year-old since the weights were announced for this race last week wand that focus has sharpened further after some bullish comments from trainer Willie Mullins.

An eye-catcher on seasonal debut and his first start over fences at Fairyhouse, Nick Rockett jumped fairly well throughout and wasn't knocked about when squeezed for room on the run to the last with him finishing a somewhat unlucky fourth and within hailing distance of Corbetts Cross, and . That is excellent form, with the winner and the third now rated 157 and 150 respectively. Nick Rockett gets in off 146 here.

He was defeated by the enigmatic in the Ten Up at last time - a race I quite like as a stepping stone for this contest (see below for others treading a similar path) - but he wasn't placed to best advantage there and didn't travel as well into the straight as the winner, and this step-up in trip promises to bring about further improvement.

He's not a flashy type - not necessarily a bad thing for this race, one which is likely to be run on testing ground to boot - and Mullins still doesn't have a great record in this race over the past 25 years as a whole (2 from 51, 18 per cent win and place, 0.59 A/E). However, the champion trainer has saddled those two winners within the last four years and he's had more to hit the places in that time, including a 1-2-3 led home by Burrows Saint in 2019. 

Nick Rockett has purposely been kept fresh for this, looks to have a bit in hand at the weights and should figure fairly prominently.

This big and imposing grey has made a fine start to life in Ireland after arriving from France, winning both starts and with both victories at this track. 

A particularly good jumper who goes with real enthusiasm from the front, he won by no less than 43 lengths last time and rider Daryl Jacob was set to go down to his lowest riding weight to make the weight of 10st 7lb for this assignment before a late injury setback intervened. 

That latest success suggested this distance should be within his range, although that needs to be proven and his racing demeanour arguably suggests he may be best over shorter trips. His front-running tactics will be much more difficult to replicate in this 30-runner field too.

could be genuinely be anything at this point, though, and trainer Tom Gibney knows what it takes to win this with Lion Na Bearnai successful a little more than a decade ago.

He looks a different model in a handful of starts for the Gavin Cromwell yard and he surely still has a good bit left to come. 

did it nicely at on stable debut last month in a relative speed test, settling matters with a late burst in the straight in a victory that certainly took the eye despite some indifferent jumping on the way round. 

His jumping - while not perfect - was much better in the Leinster National at last time and he came from further back than the principals in a performance that warrants extra credit, one in which he was cantering down the home straight with the rest of his rivals hard at work. 

He was beating rivals perhaps not in the best form overall and he now races from 9lb higher in the handicap, but he was much more superior on the day than the winning margin of one and a half lengths would indicate and ultimately won with loads in hand. 

Essentially, he makes appeal as a contender who is genuinely thriving at the moment and his blend of handicap and big-race experience potentially gives him an edge over some of the more lightly-raced novices in this. That fact makes him the more appealing of those at the head of the market for me, and at a bigger price than Nick Rockett and Intense Raffles. 

The nine-year-old has had excuses on both starts this season and, while we haven't seen him this calendar year, a bold bid at his big each-way price wouldn't surprise given the strength of some of his form over fences.

A good novice hurdler and fourth in a Lawlor's Of Naas over an insufficient trip with additional form behind the likes of Gerri Colombe, improved again over fences last season when finishing behind in Grade One company and signing off with Ten Up success at Navan at Grade Two level. 

A sound jumper, he took an extra stride going into the second fence at on his return when landing steeply and unseating his rider in the Florida Pearl - a shuddering jumping error this was not - while he was outclassed as 40-1 quotes suggested in the Savills Chase last time but he hung on in there and it was only as the field quickened into the straight that he was truly left behind. The form has worked out particularly well and his effort was no disgrace in the circumstances.

Particularly deep ground would be a negative to his chance - especially over this extended trip - but a mark of 147 on this handicap debut would give him possibilities if bouncing back to something like his best.