Run on heavy going on April 18, 2026 – a week after the Grand National itself, as has become customary in recent years – the 2026 Scottish Grand National proved to be an attritional affair, in which just six of the 16 starters completed the course. There was also a notable absence of entries trained by Willie Mullins, who had won the race for the last two years running, with Macdermott (2024) and Captain Cody (2025), having saddled six runners on each occasion. The family was represented, by Blaze The Way, trained by his sister-in-law, Margaret ‘Mags’ Mullins, and ridden by his nephew, Danny Mullins, but the eight-year-old found top weight of 12st 0lb beyond him and was pulled up before the final fence.
Favourite at the ‘off’ was Kim Roque, trained by Joseph Patrick O’Brien and ridden by James Joseph ‘J.J.’ Slevin, who was the subject of an ante-post gamble after finishing fourth in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup at the Cheltenham Festival the previous month. The six-year-old ran creditably, staying on in the closing stages to finish third, beaten a length-and-a-half and a nose. Victory, though, went to another inexperienced six-year-old, Kap Vert, trained Philip Hobbs and Johnson White and ridden by Sean Houlihan, who was making just his fifth start over fences.
Stepping up in class and distance off a career-high handicap mark and untried on the prevailing going, Kap Vert was, understandably, sent off at 20/1 to land the £112,873.34 first prize. Nevertheless, he belied his generous starting price, taking a narrow lead on the run to the third-last fence, extending that lead in the closing stages and staying on to beat Git Maker, trained by Jamie Snowden and ridden by Jonathan Burke, by a length-and-a-half. In so doing, he became the biggest winner for his trainers since they took out a joint licence in March 2023 and the biggest winner in the riding career of his jockey. Reflecting on an unexpected victory, Phil Ghazala, part of the 10-strong ‘If The Kap Fits’ syndicate that owns the Kapgarde gelding, said, “This means more than I could ever imagine.”