Gordon Elliott Reveals Grand National Runner That’s “Been Trained All Season With The Race In Mind”

In the modern era, no trainer has won the world’s greatest steeplechase more times than Gordon Elliott – so his runners each year are always high on the list when punters are trying to find the big Aintree winner.

Heading into Saturday, the Gordon Elliott Grand National 2025 runners will see the County Meath handler with up to five heading to post on Saturday 5th April – with Elliott clearly excited about one of his entries – saying it’s “been trained all season with the race in mind”.

You can see the full 2025 Grand National runners guide and Andy Newton’s 5-star ratings here.

Three Card Brag Sneaks Into The Grand National Picture For Gordon Elliott

Trainer Gordon Elliott had a nervous wait, but he found out this week his Grand National runner THREE CARD BRAG has got into the race at the five-day declaration stage.

The 8 year-old is now horse number 32 on the list and with a maximum of 34 runners, has only just sneaked into the race that carries £1m in Grand National prize money.

His inclusion was a relief for Elliott, who has gone on record saying Three Card Brag has been trained all season for the race and with just 10st 5lbs in Grand National weight to carry – he’ll also get into the 4m 2 1/2f race with a featherweight.

Elliott has also booked champion jockey Sean Bowen to do the steering, who will be his tenth ride in the National. He’s yet to win the race but came close in 2023 when former National winner Noble Yeats was 4th.

Three Card Brag also has the best age of Grand National winners in the last 10 runnings at 8 – who have won five of the last nine renewals.

Gordon Elliott said

“We’ve booked Sean Bowen to ride Three Card Brag. The owners were keen for Sean to come on board if Jack wasn’t able to ride him. They have had great success with Sean over the years – he has been a very lucky rider for them. He’s a class rider and has had a great season so far. Let’s hope that continues on Saturday!”

He added “He seems to be in great form and we’ve had the National in mind for him all season. I know some people say he wants plenty of cut in the ground, but I don’t think he does. I think he’ll bounce off that nice ground on Saturday. The key thing about him is stamina. He’ll stay all day long. All he does is keep galloping and he won’t be stopping. Fingers crossed, with a clear round and a bit of luck, he can run a big race.”

Three Card Brag Brings Stamina and Some Useful Chase Form To The 2025 Grand National

The last time Three Card Brag was on the track, he ran a fine third to Better Days Ahead at Navan in a G2 Novice Chase back in February.

Prior to that, he broke his fencing duck at Navan over 3m on soft ground in January and last season ran third to the useful Spillane’s Tower at the Punchestown Festival.

With Spillane’s Tower having gone onto run second to Fact To File in the John Durkan Memorial Chase earlier this season and finish a fair fifth in the King George VI Chase at Kempton – the form looks rock solid.

Three Card Brag also run second to Corbetts Cross and Monty’s Star back in later 2023 – plus with only six career runs over fences many feel we’ve not seen the best of him yet.

Yes, the bulk of his career wins have been on heavy or soft ground – but he’s also won on a yielding surface twice in the past to suggest he’s a horse that acts well on most ground conditions.

Three Card Brag is currently around 20/1 with the best horse racing betting sites in the UK.

He’s also part-owned by the McNeil family, who also have a Paul Nicholls Grand National runner in the race called Threeunderthrufive.

WATCH: Three Card Brag Running Third at The Punchestown Festival Last Season

Three Card Brag Career Profile

How Many Times Has Gordon Elliott Won The Grand National?

In recent times, no trainer has won the Grand National more times than Gordon Elliott – with three career wins in the most famous horse race in the world.

His first Grand National win came back in 2007 with Silver Birch, with his most recent being with Tiger Roll, who won back-to-back Grand Nationals in 2018 and 2019.

He was the first horse since Red Rum to win the race in repeat seasons.

If Elliott can land another National win, he’ll join trainer Ginger McCain, who was in charge of Red Rum, on four wins.

Gordon Elliott Grand National Winners

Gordon Elliott Grand National Runners 2025

In addtion to Three Card Brag, the other Gordon Elliott Grand National runners in the 2025 race are as follows.

WATCH: Silver Birch Winning The 2007 Grand National For Gordon Elliott