ELLIOTT ENTERS A RECORD 13 RUNNERS

TRAINER Gordon Elliott will have a record-breaking 13 runners in Saturday’s Grand National after another of his entries squeezed into the 40 starting berths. Bless The Wings, last year’s third, moved into the field after Sandymount Duke, the outsider owned by Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood, was forced out of the race by injury. Hot favourite and 2018 winner Tiger Roll heads the Elliott army, which makes up more than a quarter of the field. The trainer, 41, who also won the 2007 National with Silver Birch, is 5-4 shot to train the winner with Coral. Their spokesman said: ‘Never have we known one trainer to so dominate the race.’ Among Elliott’s 12 other runners is American Grand National winner Jury Duty. The current record for a trainer is 10 runner, set by Martin Pipe in 2001. Meanwhile, Annamarie Phelps, vice-chair of the British Olympic Committee and a former Olympic rower, has been appointed as the new chair of the British Horseracing Authority. She is the BHA’s first female chair and takes up the post on June 1.