Aintree shock: Nick Rockett withdrawn from Grand National as Tom Bellamy steps in

The late twist around Aintree has reshaped the Grand National narrative, with a defending winner now missing from the field. Nick Rockett, the 2025 champion, has been withdrawn after being reported to be coughing, ending his chance of a repeat just days before the race. The change matters not only because of what it removes, but because it alters the balance of a 34-runner lineup already carrying several major storyline strands. Tom Bellamy now takes the ride, turning a quiet spare booking into one of the race’s most notable developments.

Aintree line-up changes after Nick Rockett is declared a non-runner

Nick Rockett’s withdrawal came after he had been set to attempt something rare: back-to-back Grand National victories. Only one horse since Red Rum’s triple success in the 1970s had been in position to chase that kind of history, which is why the news landed with such force. The 2025 winner had beaten 2024 champion I Am Maximus by two-and-a-half lengths 12 months ago, and his absence now removes one of the race’s clearest reference points.

The revised field now includes first reserve Pied Piper, trained by three-time winner Gordon Elliott, who moves into the 34-runner lineup. That keeps the race full, but it also shows how quickly a headline contender can be replaced by the next horse waiting on the edge of qualification. In a race where every place in the field matters, the shift is more than procedural; it changes the shape of the contest itself.

Tom Bellamy gets the spare ride in a race defined by fine margins

Tom Bellamy had already emerged as one of the more surprising figures in the build-up. When the field was announced on Wednesday, Patrick Mullins chose to ride Grangeclare West instead, leaving Bellamy to step into the spare ride on Nick Rockett. That sequence of decisions gave the jockey an unexpected route into the spotlight and underlined how quickly planning can change in the final hours before the Grand National.

Bellamy’s own description of the opportunity as “completely out of the blue” reflects how unusual the opening was. He has spent a strong season building momentum, with a career-best 64 winners to date and a Cheltenham Festival success on White Noise last month. That context makes the call-up notable beyond the immediate race: it is a reward for form, timing and readiness, even if the horse he was due to partner is now out.

For Aintree, the episode reinforces a recurring truth about the Grand National. Even the most celebrated names are never fully secure until the final declarations are settled. In this case, aintree has lost its reigning champion, gained a reserve runner, and shifted a ride that had already surprised many into a different kind of story altogether.

What Nick Rockett’s absence means for the Grand National picture

With Nick Rockett sidelined, attention turns more sharply to I Am Maximus, now the 7-1 favourite. He carries top weight and is trying to become the first top weight to win the race since Red Rum in 1974. Paul Townend is set to ride him for the third year in a row, and the combination sits at the centre of a broader Willie Mullins presence that now includes eight runners in the field.

That depth matters because Mullins also has a chance to make more history. He is looking to become the first trainer to win the race in three successive years since Vincent O’Brien between 1953 and 1955. Last year, Mullins horses filled the first three places, a measure of the stable’s dominance that still shapes expectations now. The absence of aintree defending champion Nick Rockett does not erase that influence, but it does remove one of the stable’s most emotionally resonant runners.

There is also a broader competitive effect. When a previous winner is scratched, the market, tactics and public focus all recalibrate. The race becomes less about whether Nick Rockett can defend his crown and more about which remaining horse can seize a race suddenly stripped of its most recent champion. That uncertainty is part of the Grand National’s appeal, but it also leaves little margin for stable hopes to rely on one story alone.

The wider stakes for teams, records and Saturday’s start

The race is scheduled to start at 16: 00 BST on Saturday, and the final days before the off now carry a different tone. The headline question has changed from whether Nick Rockett can join the tiny group of repeat winners to how the race reorders itself without him. For Bellamy, the chance is still significant even amid the late disruption, because a Grand National ride remains one of the sport’s most visible assignments.

For the Mullins team, the picture is equally layered. They remain central to the contest, but their principal storyline has been cut in half by a withdrawal that no one could have wanted. That is what makes the final run-up to Aintree so compelling: plans are rarely fixed, and reputations can be altered by the smallest signs of fitness or doubt. The unanswered question now is whether the reshaped field will simply absorb the loss, or whether Nick Rockett’s absence will prove decisive in how this year’s Grand National is remembered.