The market had him at 125/1, now right down to 66/1, and he carries a lightweight weight. Nigel Twiston-Davies has received this race twice earlier than, and his horse simply ran second in the devoted Grand National Trial at Haydock.
Top Of The Bill has no earlier Grand National expertise, and the market has clearly determined he faces a steep ask. That just isn’t an unreasonable place.
But it’s price taking a second to have a look at what he has really finished!
Six weeks earlier than the Grand National, Top Of The Bill ran in the William Hill Grand National Trial at Haydock, particularly designed as a prep race for Aintree, over three miles and 4 and a half furlongs. He completed second.
Nigel Twiston-Davies is aware of what a Grand National winner seems to be like. He skilled Earth Summit to win in 1998 and Bindaree in 2002. He has had runners on this race for 3 many years.
There are worse beginning factors.
A Horse Who Has Made Haydock His Home
Top Of The Bill has spent a lot of his profession doing his greatest work at Haydock Park.
He received there in November 2025, main just about all through at 18/1, carrying an enormous weight in the race and beating a aggressive handicap discipline by seven lengths.
It was a entrance-working efficiency that recommended a horse very a lot in his factor on the monitor and over the journey.
He then ran at Haydock once more in December and completed ninth on delicate floor, a run he was disappointing in however one which seemed extra like situations discovering him out than any underlying drawback.
Then got here February, and the Grand National Trial.
The race commentary from that run is price studying rigorously. He raced prominently, disputed the lead for a lot of the contest, made a nasty mistake at the eighteenth fence that value him momentum, was briefly outpaced earlier than three out, and then rallied again into second after the second final, conserving on nicely all the strategy to the flat with out fairly reaching the winner Grand Geste. He by no means stopped making an attempt.
At 22/1, carrying close to prime weight in a race constructed particularly to arrange horses for Aintree, ending second just isn’t a efficiency to dismiss evenly. The type is there.
A Consistent Record in the Right Kind of Races
It is simple to have a look at a 66/1 worth and assume the horse has nothing to suggest him. The chase file tells a unique story.
Twelve begins over fences, 5 wins, a second, and two thirds. That is eight finishes in the first three from twelve makes an attempt, which is a stable return by anybody’s measure, even accounting for the undeniable fact that the competitors has not at all times been at the very highest stage.
He wins when situations go well with him, locations when they don’t, and he has proven throughout a number of seasons that he’s the form of constant, dependable stayer that may discover his manner round an enormous-discipline handicap when the race falls proper.
The Grand National is, at its coronary heart, an enormous-discipline handicap over an excessive distance. Top Of The Bill has been profitable and inserting in these sorts of races for a number of years.
Does He Fit the Grand National Winner’s Profile?
At ten years outdated, Top Of The Bill sits at the outer restrict of the very best age vary, although winners have come from this bracket, and a match, nicely-positioned ten-yr-outdated is not at all a spent drive.
The query at this age is at all times situation somewhat than capacity, and the proof from Haydock in February suggests a horse that’s in good nick.
His weight of 10st 5lb is the place issues develop into genuinely fascinating. That is a light-weight on this race, sitting at the decrease finish of the vary that has traditionally produced winners, however it means he can journey by way of the discipline with out being burdened.
The 66/1 Case
At 66/1, Top Of The Bill just isn’t a horse you again anticipating to win. But the Grand National Trial second in February is actual type at the proper journey, and a horse who finishes second underneath close to prime weight in a race designed to seek out National contenders can’t be solely written off, no matter worth the market attaches to him.
Twiston-Davies doesn’t ship horses to Aintree for the sake of it. He has been right here earlier than, he is aware of what it requires, and if he believes Top Of The Bill belongs on this discipline after what he noticed at Haydock, that view deserves a minimum of some consideration.
At 66/1, a really small every-manner curiosity is the solely smart framing. If the leaping holds up and the mild weight provides him one thing to work with in the closing levels, the Twiston-Davies identify has a behavior of cropping up on this race at costs that appeared beneficiant in hindsight.
More importantly than all of that, he might be ridden by Toby McCain-Mitchell, nephew to Donald McCain Jr and grandson to the nice Ginger McCain, coach of Red Rum.
And simply in case he wanted an additional little bit of luck, Toby might be using with a lock of Red Rum’s hair in his glove. What a fairytale if he comes residence as the winner!
