Hitman

Foaled in 2015, Hitman is a French bred gelding and since coming across to the UK, has been trained by Paul Nicholls. His ownership group includes former football manager Sir Alex Ferguson, amongst others, which has always given this horse a little extra attention, not that he needed it, his class shone through.

As far as the Grand National goes, Hitman was aimed at the race for the first time in 2025, but after getting almost all the way around the course, he was pulled up when struggling at the 25^th fence by jockey Freddie Gingell.

Earlier in his career, Hitman showed plenty of class, but it was always over distances that were much shorter. He was second in the Tingle Creek in 2021, a highly important race, but one ran over two miles.

Strong performances came after that, second in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, before winning a Graduation Chase at Haydock. Next up, a longer trip and tougher race, the King George, but he was pulled up after making mistakes at a number of fences.

Second in the Denman Chase got him back on track that season, and it was this point where trainer Paul Nicholls laid out plans for the horse to stay under three miles, as that distance was seen as being too far.

But plans change in racing, like many sports, and eventually the horse would move up to bigger distances and that would lead him to running in the 2025 Grand National for the first time.

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