Jordans has spent the winter looking like a horse going nowhere. Pulled up at Gowran, well beaten at Leopardstown, nothing to suggest a Grand National tilt was anything more than wishful thinking.
Then you scroll back to last April, when he went to Aintree and finished second in a Grade 1, and suddenly the story looks very different.
His trainer, Joseph O’Brien, is among the shrewdest operators in Irish racing, a man who has graduated from being champion jockey to building one of the most respected training operations in the country.
When he speaks about Jordans, there is a quiet confidence behind his words that suggests he knows something about his black gelding the market may not yet fully appreciate.
Jordans’ Career: A Horse Still Finding His Ceiling
Jordans arrived in Ireland as a French import with a solid enough background under his belt, having won bumpers and a hurdle on the continent before making the switch to Joseph O’Brien’s yard in September 2024.
What followed was a rapid rise through the ranks. Within weeks of joining the stable, he won a Grade 3 novice chase at Punchestown in October 2024, and by December, he had finished second in a Grade 1 at Limerick at 16/1, suggesting he was considerably better than his odds implied.
The Aintree Run That Changed Everything
The most important piece of evidence in Jordans’ favour predates this season entirely. In April 2025, O’Brien took him to Aintree for the Mildmay Novices’ Chase, a Grade 1 over three miles one furlong.
He went off at 11/1 and finished second to the highly-regarded Caldwell Potter, pressing him from two out and only finding the winner too strong in the final furlong.
Jockey JJ Slevin, who rode him that day, was candid afterward. “It was a very good run,” he said. “It was a big call from Joseph to run him but he’s run well.”
The implication was clear: the horse had exceeded expectations at Aintree and proved he not only handles the track but thrives on it.
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A Difficult Season Explained
What happened next is part of the picture any punter needs to understand. Jordans disappeared for 239 days after that Aintree run, returning in late November 2025 over hurdles at Fairyhouse, well beaten.
A Leopardstown hurdle in December and a Fairyhouse hurdle effort in the same month suggested the horse was being freshened up and kept ticking over rather than being campaigned seriously.
Then came Gowran Park in January and a pulled up in the Grade 3 Thyestes Chase on heavy ground, followed by an 11th at Leopardstown in March on soft.
Neither run was a surprise to anyone watching closely. This horse has never performed on testing ground, and both days gave him exactly that.
The pattern is consistent. This horse does not perform on testing ground. When O’Brien was asked about him ahead of Aintree, he did not try to dress it up: “Jordans will run as well. A bit of nice ground would help him. I was a bit disappointed with him the last day but I think up in trip on better ground will help. He has a nice weight on his back.”
What Joseph O’Brien Really Thinks About the Grand National
When the weights were announced in February, Joseph O’Brien‘s assessment was notably pointed.
“He looks like he might sneak in off a nice weight,” he said. “He kind of has a profile of what the race seems to be trending towards in recent years, with a slightly younger horse.
“We know that he handles Aintree and he’ll probably run in the Bobbyjo Chase. If he runs well there, it would be likely that he would go to the National.
“The horses seem to be trending towards being a little bit younger in the race so that would give you a reason to be hopeful.”
The Bobbyjo Chase did not materialise as a prep run, but the direction of travel was already set.
A Winning Profile?
This is where the case becomes genuinely interesting. O’Brien’s observation about younger horses is supported by the statistics.
At seven years old, Jordans is on the young side of the typical winner profile, and the race has indeed been trending in that direction, but historical winners have generally been aged eight or older.
His weight of 10st 8lb is one of the lower weights in the field, which gives him every chance, and Aintree should be Good to Soft in April, which is a far cry from the heavy conditions that have undone him this winter.
He is Irish-trained, which matters greatly given how that side of the Irish Sea has dominated the race in recent years.
He has already proven he handles the Aintree course. He has only one win over fences from ten career starts, which is a thin record, but his placed efforts have come in Grade 1 company, and his best RPR is comfortably in the range that has produced recent National winners.
Odds of 28/1: Is Jordans Worth a punt?
The honest version of this case is that Jordans is a horse whose best form, posted at Aintree last April, gives him a genuine claim at a fair price.
The difficult version is that he has looked a different animal on soft or heavy ground this winter and needs things to go his way.
At 28/1 with Betfred, you are being offered a price on a horse that his own trainer describes as a good fit for the race, that has already shown he can travel and jump around the course, and that is lightly weighted enough to get racing room from the start.
Whether the step up to four and a quarter miles finds him out is the key unknown. But at that price, it is a question worth asking.
