The horse racing broadcaster provides his tips for Day 1 of the Grand National Festival at Aintree, including his pick for the feature race of the day, the Aintree Hurdle.
The yo-yoing between codes continues with attention firmly back on jumping for Aintree with six races on day 1 of the Grand National meeting making up the ITV coverage.
The card opens with a Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle where all of the horses that filled the places behind the winner in the Triumph reoppose – Minella Study, Maestro Conti and SELMA DE VARY 11/4 (13.45 Aintree). My doubts about Selma De Vary going into Cheltenham was that her free going nature may prevent her getting up the hill and she did well to find what she did given how free she was and how wide Paul Townend went. She got a little shut off at the last by Maestro Conti wanting to grab the stands rail and on this flatter track and with the experience of Cheltenham behind her she appeals as the one to come out on top this time around. Lord should ensure a decent pace and in this smaller field she can be dropped out more easily than at Cheltenham, so hopefully can both settle better and cover less ground.
Lulamba will clearly be tough to beat in the Manifesto at 2.20 but Koktail Divin is a worthy adversary having travelled well for a long way at Cheltenham before his stamina gave out and will be suited by the drop back in trip here. A race where the market looks about right and so is passed over for betting purposes.
The Grade 1 action continues with the Racing Welfare Bowl where PROTEKTORAT 7/1 (14.55 Aintree) can outrun his odds. Even at the age of 11 his exuberance is there for all to see, and he can lead the field a merry dance. Jango Baie is clearly the form pick on his Gold Cup run but he had a hard race that day and could be worth taking on given how short a price he is. Spillane’s Tower comes here rather than lining up in the National, but he has often been taken out on similar ground (including in the Gold Cup itself) whilst Pic D’Orhy, now also 1,1 could be a pest if ridden forward but is better over shorter going the other way round. Those question marks makes Protektorat appealing given his uncomplicated approach to life.
The race over the National fences is the Randox Foxhunters, not my area of expertise and so a race to only worry about calling. Cheltenham winner Barton Snow looked as if he needed delivering on the line so it will be a challenge for Henry Crow to delay his challenge until well after the elbow. He executed the tactics perfectly at the Festival but it will certainly be a challenge to repeat the feat up this long run in over a shorter trip.
The feature race on the first day is the Aintree Hurdle and a bit like the opening race it features all the horses placed behind Lossiemouth in the Champion Hurdle lining up in opposition again. BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD 2/1 (16.05 Aintree) and The New Lion could not match the turn of foot Lossiemouth showed off the final bend that day and both should be suited by the step up in trip whilst Alexei would have been right with them but for an uncharacteristic error at the last. Gordon Elliott’s mare benefits again from the generous 7lb weight concession and had always had queries about her ability to be as effective at Cheltenham. She won a Grade 1 over course and distance as a novice and as long as there is sufficient cut in the ground her form lines with Lossiemouth look more robust than her opponents even without factoring in any improvement away from Cheltenham.
The last live race on ITV is the Close Brothers Red Rum Handicap which has always looked the target for SANS BRUIT 3/1 (16.40 Aintree) who is bidding to win the race for the third year in succession. Campaigning a horse specifically for one race seems to split opinion these days but this has clearly been the objective with Sans Bruit, who went as high as 144 after following up his win here last year by winning at Plumpton, but since then has fallen steadily back towards the 130 he won off in both 2024 and 2025. The only bump in the road came when he missed the cut for a Festival handicap which almost certainly would have resulted in him coming down a couple more pounds from the 133 he lines up off here. His claims are obvious and reflected in the market but having identified this as his objective a long time ago I am not going to jump ship here. The consistent and strong travelling Highlands Legacy looks a danger having also failed to get in at the Festival and with the yard going as well as they have all season.
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