The three-day Grand National Festival is one of the highlights in the horse racing calendar, and this year's looks set to be a vintage festival.
Here we will take you through all the standout races of the three-day festival, as well as the showpiece event, the 2026 Grand National. Let's start with Thursday, Day 1.
2026 Grand National Festival Thursday Betting Tips
Now it's time to take a deeper look into some of the standout races on the first day of the 2026 Grand National Festival.
1:45 - Grade 1 Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle Race (2m 1f)
The opening Grade 1 looks set to revolve around the Triumph Hurdle form, with three of the first four from Cheltenham locking horns again. But while many will simply take that form at face value, this looks exactly the sort of race where Aintree can turn the script on its head. But with not much separating the top three from the Triumph Hurdle, MINELLA STUDY makes a lot of appeal here.
Trained by Adam Nichol, Minella Study arrived at Cheltenham with a flawless three-from-three record over hurdles and, although he lost that unbeaten record, his run in defeat was far from disappointing. He travelled into it well, stuck on gamely when the pressure came on, and was only denied second by Maestro Conti in the dying strides.
There is every chance that Aintree could see him in an even better light.
Aintree often rewards horses that get into a rhythm and have the ability to travel smoothly on the bridle. That should play much more to Minella Study’s strengths, and it would be no surprise at all to see him improve once again.
The obvious danger is Selma De Vary, who was not beaten far in the Triumph and remains one of the more interesting runners in the line-up. That was only her second run for Willie Mullins, and she has the profile of a filly who could easily take another step forward now she has more top-level experience under her belt.
Still, if you are looking for the horse most likely to improve enough to reverse Cheltenham form, Minella Study is the one to be with.
- Selection: Minella Study 7/2
- Danger: Selma De Vary 11/4
*Odds subject to change.
2:20 - Grade 1 William Hill Manifesto Novices’ Steeple Chase (2m 4f)
Only five runners line up for the second Grade 1 of the afternoon, and if we are being blunt about it, this is not the race to overthink. On paper, it looks like a match, and that’s how it should pan out.
Lulamba will have his supporters on the back of his Arkle run, where things just happened a little too sharply for him at a key stage. He did not run badly by any means, and this move up in trip looks a sensible one. Visually, he shapes like a horse that should appreciate a stronger stamina test, and he is entitled to run a big race. But the stronger angle is KOKTAIL DIVIN for Henry de Bromhead.
Unlike Lulamba, he is heading in the opposite direction trip-wise after failing to fully see out the Brown Advisory Novices Chase distance at Cheltenham. But the bare result does not tell the full story. For much of the contest, Koktail Divin travelled like a major player and looked to be going as well as anything before his stamina ebbed away in the closing stages. That makes this return to 2m4f look absolutely ideal.
It should allow him to use his cruising speed without stretching his stamina to breaking point, and if he gets into the same kind of rhythm he found at Leopardstown over Christmas, he could make a lot of these look one-paced. That 21-length demolition job remains one of the standout novice chase performances of the season, and it came over a trip only slightly further than this.
Back on decent ground and over what looks a much more suitable test, he makes plenty of appeal at the prices and looks the clear value pick.
This is not a race that needs overthinking. If Koktail Divin jumps cleanly and settles into a rhythm, he should take a lot of beating.
- Selection: Koktail Divin 11/4
- Danger: Lulamba 8/13
*Odds subject to change.
2:55 Grade 1 Aintree Bowl Steeple Chase (3m 1f)
Another Grade 1, another small field, and if we are calling it exactly as it is, this is not the deepest Aintree Bowl renewal you will ever see.
With just five runners declared and two of them now 11 years old, this looks far more like a race that could fall to the class act than one that demands something exceptional to win it, and the class act is JANGO BAIE.
There is a long-standing trend hanging over horses who come here after running in the Gold Cup, and normally, it is the kind of stat that deserves respect. But this trend needs to be ignored today.
Jango Baie, the reigning Gold Cup runner-up, arrives with comfortably the strongest recent form on offer. More importantly, this test looks tailor-made compared to what he faced at Cheltenham. The Gold Cup is a brutal test of stamina, and while he emerged from it with huge credit, this slightly shorter trip should allow him to travel more comfortably and use his class more effectively.
He should simply prove too good for his rivals.
The one most likely to pick up the pieces if he underperforms is Impaire Et Passe, who has course-winning form and enough natural class to be dangerous if things fall his way. But on what we know, and on what they have all shown this season, Jango Baie sets the standard by a fair margin.
- Selection: Jango Baie 1/1
- Danger: Impaire Et Passe 4/1
*Odds subject to change.
4:05 - Grade 1 William Hill Aintree Hurdle Race (2m 4f)
The Champion Hurdle form collides again, and there is enough depth behind the market principals to ensure that this is one of the best races of the festival. Golden Ace, El Fabiolo, and Alexei all bring strong pieces of form to the table, but if we are stripping away, there are two who look like the standout players. They are The New Lion and BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD.
The Gordon Elliott-trained mare saw off The New Lion in the Champion Hurdle, and there are no real reasons to believe that the form will be reversed here, especially considering that one of Brighterdayshead’s career best performances came over this course and distance.
She receives 7lb from all bar one of her rivals, and in a Grade 1 of this nature, that is not a minor detail to be brushed aside. It is a serious edge. When you are dealing with horses operating at this level, weight can be the difference between being outbattled late and finding enough to put a race to bed.
If Brighterdaysahead runs to the level she is capable of, it is difficult to see many of these giving her that kind of weight and beating her.
The New Lion is clearly the main danger and commands huge respect, stepping back up in distance.
- Selection: Brighterdaysahead 2/1
- Danger: The New Lion 2/1
*Odds subject to change.
