The Haydock Grand National trial is run in mid-February just after the announcement of the Grand National weights. The front two from the Welsh National Monbeg Dude and Teaforthree are among the entries.
While recent winners have not gone on to win in Aintree the race still has a rich history. The most famous national horse of all, Red Rum, used the race as his prep run before all 5 years of his runs and both Party Politics (1992) and Earth Summit (1998) landed the Grand National after finishing 5th in this race.
It was at one time also seen as an important Gold Cup trial with Royal Frolic (1976), Alverton (1979) and Cool Ground (1992) all victorious at Haydock en route to success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The 2012 renewal was won by the Victor Dartnall trained Giles Cross under Denis O’Regan.
Grand National Trial Entries 2013
| FORM | HORSE | AGE | WGT | TRAINER | JOCKEY | OR |
| 10710/ | Silver By Nature679 | 11 | 11-12 | Lucinda Russell | 152 | |
| 11-862 | Teaforthree42 | 9 | 11-11 | Rebecca Curtis | 151 | |
| 3-1127 | Across The Bay42 | 9 | 11-10 | Donald McCain | 150 | |
| 65412 | Cannington Brook14 | 9 | 11-8 | Colin Tizzard | Tom O’Brien | 148 |
| 1334-2 | Cappa Bleu96 | 11 | 11-6 | Evan Williams | 146 | |
| 121P-P | Giles Cross42 | 11 | 11-4 | Victor Dartnall | 144 | |
| 3P-U11 | Monbeg Dude42 | 8 | 10-12 | M Scudamore | 138 | |
| U0P45 | Auroras Encore35 | 11 | 10-11 | Sue Smith | 137 | |
| 38-114 | Rose Of The Moon59 | 8 | 10-10 | David O´Meara | 136 | |
| 12-330 | Lackamon84 | 8 | 10-8 | Sue Smith | 134 | |
| 0450-1 | Neptune Equester52 | 10 | 10-7 | Brian Ellison | 133 | |
| 023P2 | Viking Blond14 | 8 | 10-6 | NA Twiston-Davies | 132 | |
| U-2321 | Rigadin De Beauchene35 | 8 | 10-5 | Venetia Williams | 131 | |
| U1F11 | Well Refreshed41 | 9 | 10-3 | Gary Moore | 129 | |
| 5-1318 | Lively Baron37 | 8 | 10-3 | Donald McCain | 129 | |
| 1731-3 | Trigger The Light84 | 12 | 10-2 | Alan King | Wayne Hutchinson | 128 |
| R14/63 | Triggerman42 | 11 | 10-2 | Philip Hobbs | 128 | |
| 49-443 | Mac Aeda56 | 9 | 10-1 | M Jefferson | Brian Hughes | 127 |
Grand National Trial Winner Stats 2003-2012
- 9 out of 10 finished in the first 3 on their last completed start
- 7 out of 10 ran between 42 and 54 days beforehand
- Peter Buchanan has ridded 3 winners since 2005
- Lucina Russell has trained two winners since 2009
- Just one winning favourite in the last 10
- Last 5 winners rated between 138 and 149
- Winners from both ends of the weights spectrum ( 3 at 11-12 , 2 at 10-0)
- 10 out of 10 had previously won between 2-4 times over fences
- 9 out of 10 had won a 3m+ chase previously
- No strong age trend with winners aged between 7 and 11 in the last decade
Grand National Trial Winners 2003-2012
| YEAR | FORM | HORSE | LTO | A/G | WGT | TRAINER | JOCKEY | OR | SP |
| 2012 | 3/P22-12 | Giles Cross (Ire) (D) | 53 | 10g | 10-5 | V R A Dartnall | D F O’Regan | 138 | 4/1 (f) |
| 2011 | 512107 | Silver By Nature (CD) | 42 | 9g | 11-12 | Ms L V Russell | P Buchanan | 149 | 10-1 |
| 2010 | 3FU512 | Silver By Nature | 54 | 8g | 10-11 | Ms L V Russell | P Buchanan | 143 | 7/1 (jt2f) |
| 2009 | 651 | Rambling Minster | 44 | 11g | 11-3 | KG Reveley | J Reveley (3) | 143 | 18-1 |
| 2008 | U-21 | Miko de Beauchene (Fr) | 50 | 8g | 11-12 | R H & Mrs S Alner | A Thornton | 144 | 17/2 (3f) |
| 2007 | 271 | Heltornic (Ire) (C) | 14 | 7m | 10-0 | M Scudamore | T Scudamore | 124 | 12-1 |
| 2006 | 613 | Ossmoses (Ire) (C) | 43 | 9g | 10-0 | DM Forster | R McGrath | 126 | 14-1 |
| 2005 | 15-01 | Forest Gunner | 100 | 11g | 10-13 | R Ford | P Buchanan | 135 | 12-1 |
| 2004 | 452 | Jurancon II (Fr) | 48 | 7g | 10-11 | MC Pipe | JP Elliott | 136 | 10-1 |
| 2003 | 2P2- | Shotgun Willy (Ire) | 315 | 9g | 11-12 | PF Nicholls | R Walsh | 155 | 10-1 |
2013 Grand National Odds
