Zanahiyr Will Aim to Defend American Grand National Win

While he will arrive under different circumstances in terms of recent racing success when compared with a year ago, Bective Stud's  Zanahiyr will try to defend his title in the $300,000 American Grand National Stakes (NSA-1) Oct 17 at Far Hills.

A year ago Zanahiyr entered the 2 5/8-mile hurdle off of back-to-back victories in Ireland for trainer Gordon Elliott. He continued that winning form at Far Hills, rallying from eighth to win by a head at the wire and edging runner-up Ballysax Hank, who had also shipped in from Ireland but is not in this year's field of eight.

The narrow victory helped Elliott to five wins on last year's card—taking all five races in which he had a starter. Elliott has five runners at Far Hills this year, including Weld-Spec Glasgow and Dee L'Estrange's  Western Fold, the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the American Grand National.

Zanahiyr is the 3-1 second-choice as the 9-year-old Nathaniel gelding has not won a race in three starts this season. He arrives off a sixth-place finish in a Sept. 16 handicap at Clonmel that saw 11 runners compete in the 2 1/8-mile flat race.

Despite that 2026 race record, Elliott told Daily Racing Form that Zanahiyr, as well as Western Fold, who won his most recent race over jumps at Punchestown and then prepped with a ninth-place finish in a 1 3/4-mile flat race Sept. 1 at Gowran Park, are both in good form.