Five potential Grand National fairytale endings
The winner of the Grand National, the world's most famous steeplechase, has a habit of providing a fairytale storyline and Saturday's renewal has the potential to supply another one.
Down the years there has been Rachael Blackmore becoming the first woman to ride the winner, Minella Times, in 2021, and Bob Champion riding Aldaniti to victory in 1981 after recovering from cancer.
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Such is the National's appeal -- first run in 1839 and won appropriately given the unpredictability of the race by Lottery -- an estimated 600 million will watch around the world.
AFP Sport picks out five horses from the 34 runners that could provide the fairytale ending to the 30-fence marathon and pick up the £500,000 ($650,000) winners cheque (horse, country trained in):
Hewick (IRL)
Trainer John 'Shark' Hanlon's stable star has bite as he showed in winning the 2023 King George VI Chase.
Bought for just 800 euros ($865) a win for him would restore some of the lustre to Hanlon's reputation after he served a ban this season for "gross negligence" in the removal of a dead horse from his yard.
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Hewick warmed up for the National with a victory in a hurdles race at Thurles, but Hanlon -- whose nickname comes from his days playing hurling -- says he is in prime form to take the first prize and have a knock on effect on his stables.
"It was a tough time, but the public kept me going," said Hanlon after the win at Thurles.
"We are back to half the numbers we had, but if we win the National we'll fill it back up!"
Hewick was rewarded with a visit to his local pub -- where he drank a pint of Guinness -- when he won the 2022 US National, a Black Velvet (Guinness and champagne) surely on the cards if he wins on Saturday.
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Nick Rockett (IRL)
One of six runners for two-time winning trainer Willie Mullins, including last year's winner I Am Maximus, if it wins there won't be a dry eye on the racecourse.
It is the last horse that Sadie, the Irish wife of owner Stewart Andrew, watched win five days before she died in 2022.
"Out of such sadness, such joy has been born," said Andrew.
Andrew was in floods of tears when Nick Rockett won The Thyestes Chase in late January at Sadie's former local track, Gowran Park in County Carlow.
"It's such an inner feeling of consolement to me because it's what she always wanted," said Andrew.
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Hyland (ENG)
English training great Nicky Henderson has won all the great races but 43 runners in the National have yielded just two runners-up in Zongalero (1979) and The Tsarevich (1987).
The 74-year-old Old Etonian -- who speaks with an endearing west country burr -- runs talented grey Hyland and the outsider Chantry Bay.
There might be a good omen in the birthdate of one of the members of the Ten From Seven syndicate that own Hyland.
"I was born on the same day as Red Rum (the three time winner), so if that's not an omen I don't know what is and it's been in the blood ever since a young age," said Paul Humphreys.
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Hyland would be a rare grey to win -- only three have won it before, Neptune Collonges, whose trainer Paul Nicholls has a grey in this year's edition Kandoo Kid, in 2012 the last to do so.
Minella Indo (IRL)
The 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup champion is the last one still running of trainer Henry de Bromhead's remarkable quartet of winners inside a month that year.
Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and Grand National victors Honeysuckle, Put The Kettle On and Minella Times are lolling around in well deserved retirement.
The understated 52-year-old Irishman has had a quieter season this term but Minella Indo, a fine third in the National last year, has had him purring saying he has been showing "lots of spark".
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Perceval Legallois (IRL)
Progressive type who won a prestigious race at Leopardstown last Christmas and represents this year's Cheltenham Gold Cup winning team of trainer Gavin Cromwell and owner JP McManus.
He has not run since which is of no concern for his trainer.
"He goes well fresh, so that is definitely a positive," said Cromwell.
Poker-ace McManus -- who could become the most successful owner in National history with four winners -- opted not to run Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin, but has other runners with different trainers.
Cromwell dominates the betting market -- Mullins and Gordon Elliott for once playing second fiddle in that battle -- with three of the top fancies, Vanillier runner-up two years ago and Cheltenham Cross Country Chase winner Stumptown.
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3 hours ago
- New York Times
MLB Power Rankings: Mariners surge back into our top 10; free agent stock watch for every team
By Tim Britton, Johnny Flores Jr. and Andy McCullough Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results. With the trade deadline having passed, the time for transactional wonder has ended. All that is left in the 2025 season is enjoying the final two months of the postseason race and the inevitable drama of October. Not bad! Advertisement Unless, of course, your team is hopelessly out of contention and you harbor dreams of your team's owner spending this coming winter. In that case, you are probably wondering about the pending class of free agents. With that in mind, our latest edition of the power rankings features a stock watch on one pending free agent for each club. Enjoy. Record: 74-44 Last Power Ranking: 1 Free agent stock watch: SP Brandon Woodruff Woodruff will enter the offseason with a $20 million mutual option that he's almost certain to reject in favor of entering free agency without any injuries dampening his prospects. Since re-joining the Brewers' rotation on July 6, Woodruff has been nothing but nails through six starts, having limited opponents to a 2.29 ERA over 35 1/3 innings pitched. In starts against the Mets and Mariners, both of which figure to be playing in October, Woodruff pitched 13 combined innings of two-run ball, with 13 strikeouts against just two walks. In a market that will be filled with solid middle-of-the-rotation starters, Woodruff immediately profiles as a ready-made ace. — Johnny Flores Jr. Record: 68-51 Last Power Ranking: 2 Free agent stock watch: OF Michael Conforto When Conforto signed a one-year, $17 million deal with the Dodgers, both sides hoped it would be a sequel to the 2024 Teoscar Hernández story, in which a hitter comes to Los Angeles hoping to use the team as a springboard into further free-agent riches in the future. Instead, Conforto has been a dud. He entered Monday's games batting .190 with a career-low .636 OPS. The numbers under the hood suggest he has been victimized by some bad batted-ball luck. Which may be true and help his case for another deal this winter. But the Dodgers would prefer that luck turns around by October. — Andy McCullough Record: 69-49 Last Power Ranking: 4 Free agent stock watch: OF Kyle Schwarber Remember when this man was non-tendered? When the Phillies looked out of their minds for signing him and Nick Castellanos days apart? Now, Schwarber should enter free agency off a 50-homer season, positioning himself as a top-five bat in the class at worst and capable of signing another four-year deal as a DH in his 30s. This season has been the best of his career, with his batting average up over .250 for just the second time to help support his characteristically outstanding walk rate. — Tim Britton Advertisement Record: 67-50 Last Power Ranking: 3 Free agent stock watch: RF Kyle Tucker With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. officially off the board, Tucker is now poised to be the No. 1 free agent this cycle, and he's done enough in 113 games to show why teams will presumably engage in a bidding war for his services. Entering Monday, and despite a recent slump, he's posted a .271/.384/.469 slashline, good enough for a 139 wRC+. With 18 homers and 24 steals, he should comfortably complete his third career 20/20 season, and his 4.3 fWAR is tied for 11th in all of baseball. Listen, this is a lot of words just to say that the man is going to get paid. — Flores Record: 69-50 Last Power Ranking: 6 Free agent stock watch: SS Bo Bichette For Bichette and for the Blue Jays, the goal entering 2025 was to make 2024 feel like it never happened. Both player and team have accomplished that to this point. The Jays have the AL's best record, and that's in no small part owing to their shortstop's renaissance. Bichette's numbers this season align neatly with the career track record he compiled before last year's unpleasantness, and he's been especially hot (as Toronto has) since just before the All-Star break. Since July 7, only Nick Kurtz has compiled more wins above replacement (according to FanGraphs) than Bichette. He's the easy No. 2 in this free-agent class behind Kyle Tucker. — Britton Record: 69-51 Last Power Ranking: 5 Free agent stock watch: 2B Gleyber Torres Signed to a one-year, $15 million deal, Torres has set himself up nicely for a long-term contract this winter. His 120 OPS+ is his highest since 2019, which is coincidentally the last year he was an All-Star before this season. Still just 28 years old, Torres will have the power of youth and a solid season on his side when he tests the market once again. Compared to past seasons, Torres has cut down on his K rate significantly while also bumping up his walk percentage. His 14.2 percent strikeout rate is a career-best, and his chase percentage sits behind Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker as among the best in the league. — Flores Record: 66-53 Last Power Ranking: 12 Free agent stock watch: 3B Eugenio Suárez This will be a curious one to watch. After Suárez signed an eight-year, $79 million extension with Cincinnati in 2018, he was traded three times during the lifetime of the deal, including twice as a salary dump. He also averaged 30 homers per season in the first seven years of the deal, and is on pace for more than 40 in 2025. While he has excellent power, he strikes out a ton and lacks elite on-base ability. That is a scary combination for an aging player. The Mariners — who acquired Suárez in 2022, traded him to Arizona for 2024 and reacquired him at last month's deadline — are still waiting for his slugging to appear in Seattle down the stretch. — McCullough Record: 65-55 Last Power Ranking: T-10 Free agent stock watch: 3B Alex Bregman Bregman has an opt-out clause in his contract, one that, barring a serious injury, he will undoubtedly exercise. He's having his best season since his 40-homer campaign in 2019, anchoring a Red Sox lineup coming into its own as the season has progressed. The mysterious drop in walk rate last season has come halfway back to his career average. And it probably doesn't hurt Bregman's market that Boston traded a player at his position with eight additional years of team control in June. Seems like the Sox might be interested in a longer-term fit with Bregman. — Britton Advertisement Record: 67-52 Last Power Ranking: 8 Free agent stock watch: SP Michael King King logged just two innings in his return to the mound on Saturday after a three-month absence caused by a shoulder injury. The Padres will need more from him down the stretch as the team tries to run down the Dodgers. And King needs to showcase his ability to impress the clubs considering him this winter. Before he landed on the injured list, he looked like he might receive a nine-figure payday. That threshold is still within reach — if he can recapture his form in the season's final two months, not to mention October. — McCullough Record: 67-52 Last Power Ranking: 9 Free agent stock watch: SP Framber Valdez Unlike Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen and Michael King, Valdez has put together an excellent platform season, setting himself up to land the biggest free-agent contract this winter. He has a 2.97 ERA and his 2.96 FIP is his best in a full season. He has been basically the same guy for half a decade: His sinker generates a lot of grounders, he doesn't give up many home runs and he strikes out about a batter per inning. He does give up a good deal of hard contact, but since most of it is on the ground, you can live with that. He'll get paid this winter. — McCullough Record: 63-55 Last Power Ranking: 7 Free agent stock watch: 1B Pete Alonso Alonso's next home run will set the Mets' franchise record, which right now, as the team flails in the NL East, might feel like celebrating Shea Stadium after a crushing season-ending loss did. Like many of his teammates, Alonso looked a lot better a couple months ago. The National League's player of the month in April, Alonso endured one of the worst months of his career in July. His OPS since the end of April is .768 — more in line with the player he was in 2023 and 2024 than what he looked like he might be to begin this year. His Baseball Savant page is still full of red, and you can't just eliminate a month as good as Alonso's first this season. He will still assuredly opt out of the one year and $24 million on his deal for next year. But he might be looking again at shorter-term deals than the long-term payout he'd hoped for last winter. — Britton Record: 63-56 Last Power Ranking: T-10 Free agent stock watch: RP Devin Williams Well, we can probably eliminate the Yankees from the list of teams potentially interested in Williams this winter. It's been a brutal campaign for the closer in the Bronx, as he's surrendered more earned runs this season than in his final three with the Brewers. A low-leverage scoreless inning Sunday finally halted a string of five straight games allowing a run. The closer market looks pretty robust this winter: In addition to Williams, Edwin Díaz and Robert Suárez will likely opt out, and Aroldis Chapman and Ryan Helsley will be available as well. — Britton Record: 62-56 Last Power Ranking: 17 Free agent stock watch: RF Lane Thomas When the Guardians parted with three prospects to acquire Thomas at the 2024 deadline, they almost certainly envisioned obtaining a power-hitting corner outfielder with enough speed to push for a 20/20 season. Unfortunately, Thomas has been anything but that in Cleveland. This season, he's been impacted by two cases of right foot plantar fasciitis, as well as a separate right wrist bruise that's limited him to just 39 games. When healthy, he still has speed and has the arm strength to hose down a runner, but the power, at least at a consistent level, is unlikely to resurface. At least Cleveland fans will always have his postseason grand slam to replay. — Flores Record: 62-58 Last Power Ranking: 14 Free agent stock watch: RP Emilio Pagán A season after posting an injury-plagued 4.50 ERA, Pagán is back to looking like the reliever he once was in Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Both his 2.92 ERA and 25 saves are career bests, and he's finished a league-leading 43 games. At 34 years old, he's still able to generate whiffs and strikeouts at more than average rates, which should bode well for his free agency case. He's ditched his curveball and has leaned more on his fastball and splitter, the latter of which has a 42.5 percent whiff rate. — Flores Record: 61-59 Last Power Ranking: 13 Free agent stock watch: SP Merrill Kelly A couple months away from his 37th birthday, Kelly is defying the aging curve and the pessimism of his underlying metrics to put together another quality season. His fastball sits at a pedestrian 92 mph. He throws more changeups than heaters. He tends to give up loud contact. But he knows how to make hitters chase outside the zone, and if you're in the business of run prevention, he's a useful addition to any rotation. He should merit a short-term deal similar to the ones found by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander this past winter. — McCullough Advertisement Record: 59-60 Last Power Ranking: T-15 Free agent stock watch: SP Justin Verlander The best stretch of Verlander's season, a three-start stint in which he gave up one earned run in 15 innings, ended with a thud on Sunday when the Nationals roughed him up for five runs on 11 hits in five innings. He is 1-9 with a 4.53 ERA. At 42, he has performed below replacement level in each of the past two seasons, according to Baseball-Reference. After winning the American League Cy Young award in 2022 and putting together another good season in 2023, Verlander had an outside chance at reaching 300 wins. But he's collected just six victories in the past two years, and might not tally more than his current total of 263. — McCullough Record: 58-62 Last Power Ranking: T-15 Free agent stock watch: 2B Brandon Lowe Tampa Bay has no guaranteed free agents, so let's consider Lowe and the $11 million decision the Rays have this winter on his final club option. Lowe figured to benefit as much as anyone from playing home games at Steinbrenner Field rather than the Trop; instead, his home OPS is the second-worst of his career, just two points ahead of last year's low. Nevertheless, his overall production is in line with career norms, and he's on pace to play his most games since 2021. It's an easy call for the Rays to pick up the option, and if they want to trade Lowe, they should find plenty of suitors. — Britton Record: 61-59 Last Power Ranking: T-19 Free agent stock watch: SP Miles Mikolas With Steven Matz, Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton and Erick Fedde out of the picture, Mikolas is the only Cardinal that will hit free agency at season's end. The 36-year-old right-hander is three seasons removed from his last All-Star season; however, he still profiles as a durable innings eater. Since returning from Japan in 2018, Mikolas has made at least 32 starts in a full 162-game season, including a league-leading 35 starts in 2023. Depending on how things shake out, though, Mikolas might not be long for MLB, as he recently told Sports Hochi that he'd like to return to NPB. — Flores Record: 57-62 Last Power Ranking: 21 Free agent stock watch: SP Zac Gallen It is unfair to lay the blame for a team's underwhelming season at the feet of one player, but in some ways, Gallen acts as a hinge for Arizona's 2025 disappointment. After struggling for much of the year, Gallen got smashed in his final three starts before the trade deadline, which reduced his value when the Diamondbacks decided to sell. It's hard to find a contender willing to give up real prospects for a guy with a 5.60 ERA. Then again, if Gallen had been able to pitch as he did during the first six seasons of his career, Arizona might not have been sellers. All in all, a frustrating campaign for the former All-Star. — McCullough Record: 59-60 Last Power Ranking: T-19 Free agent stock watch: OF Mike Yastrzemski Having made his debut at 28, Yastrzemski will finally hit free agency at 35 years old and will have one of the more interesting cases this winter. In seven seasons in the majors, Yastrzemski has put up, at minimum, 2.0 bWAR each season, and has only ever had an OPS+ under 100 once. He's relatively durable, can play some serviceable defense and can help push jerseys on the novelty of seeing the last name Yastrzemski on anything other than Red Sox red. Any team that signs him will almost certainly be better for it, the question is just how long and for how much. — Flores Record: 56-62 Last Power Ranking: 27 Free agent stock watch: C Christian Vázquez After a massive trade deadline sell-off, the Twins will enter the offseason with only one true free agent in Vázquez. Originally signed to a three-year, $30 million deal, the Twins had been unsuccessful in finding a way to dump one of the more disappointing signings in franchise history. To put things into perspective, Vázquez has not been worth positive bWAR since July 31, 2022. That said, he's still rates as an above-average catcher when it comes to blocking and caught stealing, and was in the 84th percentile of framing as late as last season, making him an ideal back-up solution for a catching-starved team. — Flores Record: 57-61 Last Power Ranking: 18 Free agent stock watch: SP Cal Quantrill Yep, he's the one. Since being lit up in March and April, Quantrill has been a perfectly competent back-end starter. In his last 17 starts, he owns a 4.08 ERA (4.13 FIP) while averaging a touch less than five innings per start. Is it a profile teams fight over at the Winter Meetings? Nope. Is it someone you're grateful is in your organization when three pitchers go down in spring training? You bet. — Britton Advertisement Record: 51-67 Last Power Ranking: 23 Free agent stock watch: DH/OF Marcell Ozuna Few players are as hot right now as Ozuna, who in his last dozen games has six homers and an OPS that begins with a 12. His walk rate has remained unusually robust all season, which helped mitigate the long slump he had in May and June while dealing with a hip injury. The future is unlikely to be with Atlanta, though. Ozuna started 88 of the first 92 games at DH; he's only started half of the last 26 there, with Atlanta deploying its catcher tandem of Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin in the lineup together more regularly. — Britton Record: 51-69 Last Power Ranking: 25 Free agent stock watch: UTIL Isiah Kiner-Falefa For the purposes of this exercise, we had to take our pick between Tommy Pham, Andrew McCutchen, Andrew Heaney and Kiner-Falefa — not exactly the easiest choice given that Pham will be 38 years old next season and McCutchen likely won't play anywhere else but Pittsburgh. Instead, we'll focus on Kiner-Falefa, the 30-year-old one-time Gold Glove winner. At this point in his career, Kiner-Falefa won't likely reach the 115 OPS+ he put up in Toronto, but can still be a valuable utility player with the ability to cycle through shortstop, third base and the outfield. That should be more than enough for a team looking for a stopgap solution or a player to plug in on off-days. — Flores Record: 57-62 Last Power Ranking: 22 Free agent stock watch: RP Kenley Jansen Heading into Monday's games, Jansen needed only 11 saves to pass Lee Smith (478) to claim third place on the all-time list. He may never catch Mariano Rivera (652) or Trevor Hoffman (601), but becoming the third member of the 500-save club is within reach, if he can find a team willing to use him as a full-time closer. He mitigated a reduction in strikeouts this year by sharpening his command to stay effective. — McCullough Record: 53-68 Last Power Ranking: 26 Free agent stock watch: RP Sean Newcomb The Athletics aren't exactly overflowing with candidates for this category. José Leclerc, their $10 million offseason addition, has been a bust, with shoulder surgery rendering his big-league future in doubt. Most of the other A's are under contract for a while. Newcomb, a lefty reliever acquired in May after being DFA'd by Boston, posted a 2.12 ERA in his first 23 appearances with the Athletics. Some other club might give him a big-league deal this offseason. — McCullough Record: 53-65 Last Power Ranking: 24 Free agent stock watch: SP Zach Eflin Baltimore's once-burgeoning class of walk-year players is down to just Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano. It's been a fitful year for Eflin, who has missed time twice with injuries and hasn't put together a consistent stretch of his usual performance. His ERA for the season (currently 5.93) was wrecked by a three-start run in late June in which he permitted 17 earned runs in nine innings. A strong finish that resembles his longer track record would help teams to categorize that as an anomaly and to consider Eflin an appealing option again this winter. — Britton Record: 43-76 Last Power Ranking: T-28 Free agent stock watch: OF Luis Robert Jr. After failing to find a trade partner at the deadline, the White Sox will enter the offseason with a rather interesting choice when it comes to their former top prospect. The team could pick up his $20 million club option, $5 million more than he's making this season, or let him walk entering his age-28 season. Advertisement The oft-injured center fielder had a strong showing in July (.990 OPS in 15 games) and has been solid in eight games so far in August (.792 OPS), making the decision all the more complicated. It's unlikely Robert will ever hit the highs of his 2023 campaign, and in either picking up the option or signing him as a free agent, Chicago or any other team would be betting on his youth and second-half sprint. — Flores Record: 47-71 Last Power Ranking: T-28 Free agent stock watch: 1B Josh Bell Kyle Schwarber aside, life's hard in free agency for a hitter with limited to no defensive value. The bar for offense is so high, and Bell was well underneath it with his dreadful April. But the switch-hitter has been quietly solid ever since: an .826 OPS with very strong strikeout and walk rates. It probably means another one-year deal, but it's not hard to envision a team talking itself into a small investment for Bell over a bigger one for some other bats. — Britton Record: 30-88 Last Power Ranking: 30 Free agent stock watch: SP Germán Márquez For years, Márquez was one of those pitchers of whom rival scouts said some version of 'I'd love to see how he'd pitch if he wasn't in Colorado.' But that was several years and one Tommy John surgery ago. Marquez made 20 starts this season before landing on the injured list with biceps tendinitis. Among the 107 pitchers who have logged at least 90 innings this season, his 5.67 ERA ranked No. 101. That was better than his teammate, Antonio Senzatela, who was No. 107 — another pitcher of whom scouts once wondered about leaving the confines of Coors Field. So it goes. — McCullough (Top photo of Seattle's Cal Raleigh: Alika Jenner / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
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