Horse Racing Tips: Barry Geraghty’s Best Bets from Aintree

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty runs through Saturday’s card from Aintree picking out his best bets.

Aintree, Saturday

In the opening contest (12:40pm) on Saturday, I’m going to side with STICK TO THE BOARD. He might have bumped into a smart rival last time in the shape of the Dan Skelton-trained Hitintheheadlines. He looked to race with a lot of enthusiasm then, and that outing might just have brought him on. There are only four in here, but they all look nice types, and it could be an informative race. I’m going to go with Stick To The Board on the basis of his run at Chepstow last time, where I think he bumped into one.

KADASTRAL, who lines up in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap Chase (1:15pm), is a horse I’ve been really looking forward to seeing this season. He’s a big horse and I think the Skeltons intentionally gave him a light campaign last season. He won a maiden hurdle and has some good placed form to his name, but what excites me most about him is the form of his debut win, which came in a valuable bumper at Newbury. Talk The Talk finished second there and has since gone on to win a Grade 1, Klub Du Reve, who finished third, has since won a Grade 2, and Talk To The Man, who looks an exciting novice chaser, was in fourth. On that form, Kadastral has bags of potential and could be very unexposed.

A few smart hurdlers line up in the Grade 2 William Hill Molyneux Hurdle (1:45pm) and will be hoping to stake early claims for the Champion Hurdle. MYDADDYPADDY made a big step forward from his defeat by Idaho Sun in the Grade 1 William Hill Formby Novice Hurdle at Aintree last Christmas to finish third in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival. To me, that was a major improvement and it’s probably down to him being only a five-year-old. I can see him making another big step forward here. Add into the equation that he gets four pounds from his main market rival Alexei, and he looks the one to beat.

In the Grade 2 Rising Stars Novices’ Chase (2:25pm) it’s interesting that the top two, No Drama This End and TALK TO THE MAN both had good form through last season but disappointed when taking in their spring targets at Cheltenham and Aintree. There shouldn’t be much between the two, but on a line through Klimt Madrik, Talk To The Man could just shade this. Klimt Madrik forced No Drama This End to work a bit harder in the Challow Hurdle last season, than he did when comfortably brushed aside by Talk To The Man at Worcester last month. If taking that form on face value, Talk To The Man might be the one.

The Pertemps qualifier (3:00pm) is a wide-open and tricky early season handicap. FRENCH SHIP was a horse I liked a lot last season. He was unlucky to fall at Chepstow when just getting competitive on his return last season. After that he made amends with wins in two strong handicaps at Cheltenham and Newbury. He did disappoint in the second half of the season, but he’s only six and I think there could be better to come from him this campaign. Carrying top-weight here isn’t ideal, but I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet and the early part of the season might be the best time to catch him.

In the Play Lucky Stable With William Hill Handicap Chase (3:35pm), BLUEY might be the one. She steps into open company here after running some excellent races in mares’ contests, including when winning a Grade 3 at Market Rasen in the spring. She won first time out last season and looks the one in here that brings the most potential.

Of the six that line up in the William Hill Extra Places Every Day ‘Junior’ National Hunt Flat Race (4:05pm), only Nelouba has had a run, and she made a winning start at Leicester back in June. I’m not sure about the strength of that form, though, and I think the Skelton’s debutant AL CAPONY could be of note here. He is a half-brother to Musique Maestro, a horse that was beaten a nose in a Grade 1 in Auteuil in 2025 and has won three of his seven starts, so there is obviously class in the family and he could be up to making a winning debut.