Lord Windermere bids for Gold Cup-National double

Lord Windermere heads 98 entries for the Grand National at Aintree, with last year’s winner Pineau De Re also included.

The Jim Culloty-trained Lord Windermere won the 2014 Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival and could become the first horse since L’Escargot in 1975 to complete a Gold Cup-National double, with L’Escargot having won the Cheltenham showpiece in 1970 and 1971.

Pineau De Re won last year’s edition of the Grand National and could compete again in 2015, as could 2014 runner-up Balthazar King.

A maximum field of 40 will line up for the 2015 Grand National at Aintree, with Lord Windermere’s stablemate Spring Heeled also included in the 98 entries.