The latest Grand National Odds are making for interesting viewing and before the main event on Saturday there are a host of fantastic races to enjoy. The Aintree meeting gets underway on Thursday and we’ve picked out our best bets for day one…
Grand National Day 1 Tips
The Manifesto Novices Chase gets the Grand National meeting started at 1.45pm and La Bague Au Roi is favourite after Defi Du Seuil was withdrawn from the final entries. Mengli Khan finished third, behind Defi Du Seuil, in the JLT Novices Chase at Cheltenham Festival and it bodes well for Gordon Elliott’s runner that nine of the past ten winners of the Manifesto were beaten at the Festival, with five of those coming from the JLT.
Mengli Khan is taken to improve and is a great price at 8/1 with Paddy Power.
| Thursday – 1.45pm | Odds | Bets |
|---|---|---|
| Manifesto Novices Chase – BEST BET | ||
| Mengli Khan (each way) Best Bet | 8/1 |  |
At 2.20pm it is the Doom Bar Anniversary 4-y-o Juvenile Hurdle and Pentland Hills, the winner of the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham is a worthy favourite. Thirteen of the past eighteen winners of this race contested the Triumph and nine of those had either won or placed in the Cheltenham race. Pentland Hills is currently 6/4 with William Hill.
| Thursday – 2.15pm | Odds | Bets |
|---|---|---|
| Doom Bar Anniversary 4-y-o Hurdle – BEST BET | ||
| Pentland Hills to win Best Bet | 6/4 |  |
A cracking edition of the Betway Bowl to come at 2.50pm and Kemboy is our best bet at 11/4 with Betway. Willie Mullins’ runner should be fresh after falling at the first in the Gold Cup and it is worth noting that horses who had run a tough race in the blue riband event at Cheltenham Festival have tended to struggle in the Bowl. Clans Des Obeaux battled hard for 5th place in the Gold Cup and we prefer the fresher legs of Kemboy, who won the Savills Chase – four of the last 16 Betway Bowl winners featured in that season’s Savills – in some style earlier this term.
| Wednesday – 2.50pm | Odds | Bets |
|---|---|---|
| Betway Bowl – BEST BET | ||
| Kemboy to win Best Bet | 11/4 |  |
It is difficult to look beyond the brilliant Buveur D’Air for the Aintree Hurdle at 3.25pm and we’re backing him at 10/11 with Paddy Power. A winner on his last two visits to this meeting, including this race in 2017, Buveur D’Air is the class act in the field and can bounce back from his unfortunate fall at Cheltenham Festival.
| Thursday – 3.25pm | Odds | Bets |
|---|---|---|
| Aintree Hurdle – BEST BET | ||
| Buveur D’Air to win Best Bet | 10/11 | |
The trends show that 22 of the past 25 winners of the Randox Health Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase (4.05pm) came from the first-four in the betting and experience counts for plenty, with the first-five home last year all aged 10 years or older. Which brings us to Ucello Conti (7/1 with Bet Victor), who was a fine 5th in the Foxhunters at Cheltenham Festival, which is a decent guide as five of the last eight winners of the Aintree race had run in the Cheltenham equivalent.
| Thursday – 4.05pm | Odds | Bets |
|---|---|---|
| Foxhunters Open Hunters Chase – BEST BET | ||
| Ucello Conti (each way) Best Bet | 7/1 |  |
Novice chasers boast an excellent record in the Close Brothers Red Rum Handicap Chase (4.40pm), winning nine of the last 17 renewals, and Tom George’s Clondaw Castle is our best bet following a brilliant first campaign over fences, which included a fourth-place finish in the Arkle. Clondaw Castle is currently 8/1 with Paddy Power.
| Thursday – 4.40pm | Odds | Bets |
|---|---|---|
| Close Brothers Red Rum Handicap Chase – BEST BET | ||
| Clondaw Castle (each way) Best Bet | 8/1 | |
Finally, there is much to like about Misty Whisky as she won the EBF Stallions TBA Mares’ Only Bumper at Sandown earlier this season and that race has provided three winners of Aintree’s National Hunt Flat Race (5.15pm), as well as the runner-up in four of the past 12 years. Misty Whisky is our each-way tip for the final race of day one.
| Thursday – 5.15pm | Odds | Bets |
|---|---|---|
| National Hunt Flat Race – BEST BET | ||
| Misty Whisky (each way) Best Bet | S/P | |