Ascot outsiders let us dream big for the National

Royal Ascot has been and gone, with five days of great racing characterised by a host of outsiders upsetting the odds.

In hindsight, Triple Time coming home at 33/1 in the first race of the festival was a glimpse of what was to lie ahead, but the biggest shocks were saved for Thursday, courtesy of Valiant Force’s win in the Norfolk Stakes at 150/1 before Witch Hunter capped the day off by taking the Buckingham Palace Stakes at 80/1. The surprises continued right through to Saturday, as Khaadem came through late to win the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes as the rank outsider, again at remarkable odds of 80/1.

The shocks left us looking ahead to the Grand National, and the potential of a similarly priced victor in the most famous race in the UK, but can an outsider really win the 40 runner race, and who could fit the bill?

The most recent winner may have been the favourite, but a look through the grandnational.org.uk roll of honour quickly reminds us that we don’t have to go too far back to find a big priced winner. When Noble Yeats became the first seven-year-old to win the race since the Second World War, he did so at unlikely odds of 50/1, while Auroras Encore came home first in 2013 at 66/1, and Mon Mome was the unlikely 100/1 winner in 2009.

So clearly these shocks do happen and are arguably more likely in races like the Grand National where the favourites have big fields and 30 daunting fences to contend with. As for which horses to back at these seemingly unlikely odds, even the favourites this far out from the race can be tempting, with April’s winner Corach Rambler heading the market at 25/1.

Further down the field, Minella Trump could be worth a fanciful punt. Donald McCain’s horse was travelling prominently for much of the race before a lack of experience over longer distances eventually told and he faded to finish out of the places. A year on, and with more runs in the longer races under his belt, it isn’t beyond the realms of reality to see Minella Trump building on his Aintree debut to belie ante-post odds of 80/1.

For even more enticing odds, you could do worse than look to Born By The Sea or A Wave Of The Sea. The pair’s similarities don’t end with their names, as both can be backed at 125/1 to cause an Aintree upset. As with Minella Trump, the two are more accustomed to shorter races, but neither disgraced themselves over the Grand National fences in April, finishing in sixth and ninth respectively to give hope that just maybe they could be the next outsiders on everyone’s lips.