How many horses does Michael O'Leary have in the Grand…

How many horses does Michael O'Leary have in the Grand National? The Ryanair boss' many runners in the Aintree showpiece

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is throwing a lot of darts at the 2022 Aintree Grand National.

O'Leary owns five of the forty horses set to go to post for the marathon contest at the Liverpool venue on Saturday.

It is a race that has been very kind to his Gigginstown House Stud in recent years, with Tiger Roll famously winning back-to-back Nationals in 2018 and 2019, while 33/1 shot Rule The World recorded their first win in the race back in 2017.

While many racing fans think Gigginstown should have given Tiger Roll the opportunity for the hat-trick in this year's renewal, they still look to hold a strong hand.

All fives of their representatives are trained by Gordon Elliott, who is looking for his third victory in the race, a race that kickstarted his training career when Silver Birch (33/1) won the 2007 edition.

The betting suggests that O'Leary and Elliott's best chance in this year's race is Delta Work. A Grade 1 winner over fences, he spoiled the retirement party of Tiger Roll at Cheltenham in the Cross Country Chase.

"He’s been in great order (since Cheltenham) and I couldn’t be happier with him," the told Racing TV’s On The Wire video podcast.

"Jack Kennedy schooled him over fences on Wednesday morning and he had a smile on his face afterwards. He was also on the beach the other morning. If I’m being honest, I haven’t done much galloping with him since as he was pretty fit going to Cheltenham, but he’s definitely in good form and moving well plus he’s very happy in himself.

We had him over at Cheltenham probably a month before the Festival, and every morning we schooled him at Cheltenham, I was getting more and more nervous that he was going to beat Tiger Roll and when the rain came, it went totally against Tiger Roll.

It will probably be good to soft ground on Saturday, and it won’t bother him whatsoever. If it does rain, that won’t bother him, either. The ground just suited him better at Cheltenham than Tiger Roll. I’m not worried about the ground for Delta Work.

He probably didn’t get the credit he deserved at Cheltenham, but if he wins the Grand National on Saturday, he definitely will."

Davy Russell, who partnered Tiger Roll to his National triumphs, is on Run Wild Fred, who has been a model of consistency over fences this season.

Run Wild Fred will be partnered by Davy Russell (Mick Atkins/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)

Elliott said: "He was second in the Irish National last year and second in the National Hunt Chase this year. I’d say he got beat by a very good horse at Cheltenham.

Initially, when he passed the line at Cheltenham, I was a little bit disappointed, but when I looked back through all the form, he beat Gavin Cromwell’s horse (Vanillier) further than he did at Leopardstown on his penultimate start, maybe the winner was just good on the day.

Our lad has loads of experience in big handicaps and has graded form. The better the ground, the better the chance he’d have."

Outside of those O'Leary also runs 11-year-old Death Duty, while Coko Beach and Samcro would be big price winners for the airline supremo.