39 Irish entries set for Aintree Horses for Courses

There are 39 Irish-trained horses left in the latest acceptance stage for the Aintree Grand National out of a total of 57. With 29 in the top 40 guaranteed a run, the Irish will probably dominate the race. Elliott has 13 left in and WP Mullins six. The ante post favourite is Linda Russell’s Corach Rambler with the next six in the betting Irish-trained including Sean Mulryan’s Longhouse Poet at 12/1. After two near-misses at Cheltenham, trainer Martin Brassil could do with a change of luck as he prepares Longhouse Poet for another run next month having finished sixth last year under Darragh O’Keeffe.

Paul Nicholls’ dual King George winner, Clan Des Obeaux, will not run in the Aintree Bowl, which he won last year, and is out for the season. His last run was in the Gold Cup at Punchestown in April. The 11-Y-O is owned by Alex Ferguson, Paul Barber, and Ged Mason.

Weekend

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This week horseracing starts with two meetings, both national hunt, today at Limerick off at 1.40 pm and at Naas