Grand National

Grand National 2026: Day 1 Lucky 15 Tips | William Hill News

1 hour ago

| BY News Team

The Aintree Grand National Festival is upon us and the William Hill News team are on hand with Lucky 15 tips for all three days.

Thursday is a seriously high-quality day of racing, with four Grade 1s, a Grade 2, a valuable handicap and a hunters’ chase on the card.

William Hill are the official betting partner of the Aintree Grand National Festival and have two sponsored races on Thursday: The Grade 1 William Hill Manifesto Novices’ Chase and the Grade 1 William Hill Aintree Hurdle.

Bet on Horse Racing at William Hill

Minella Study 7/2 – 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 1)

The first selection in our Lucky 15 comes in the opening race of the day, the Grade 1 four-year-old juvenile hurdle. Minella Study is currently a 7/2 chance for the race, joined at the top of the betting by Selma De Vary (5/2) and Maestro Conti (7/2).

Adam Nichol’s stable star put in a huge performance in the Triumph Hurdle last month, finishing third, 1.5 lengths behind shock winner Apolon De Charnie, and just a short head behind the reopposing Maestro Conti.

He could be going under the radar again here for smaller connections and there’s certainly an argument that he should be favourite for this race, so the 7/2 about him looks good enough.

Impaire Et Passe 10/3 – Bowl Chase (Grade 1)

Impaire Et Passe will line up in the Bowl off the back of a disappointing run in the Ryanair, where he was pulled up. He was never travelling there and could be the type to bounce back. There’s no one better to get him right than the master himself, Willie Mullins.

Given his good record at the track, you might expect him to be shorter than 10/3, but he’s taking on a real star in Jango Baie. The recent Gold Cup runner-up is a worthy 11/10 favourite here. That said, Impaire Et Passe won the Grade 1 Manifesto Novices’ Chase here last season with Jango Baie back in third and he could be good value to get the better of him again.

Brighterdaysahead 2/1 – William Hill Aintree Hurdle (Grade 1)

Then we look to the Grade 1 William Hill Aintree Hurdle for our third selection. Gordon Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead put her poor Cheltenham reputation to bed when finishing a valiant second to Lossiemouth in the Champion Hurdle, but she won’t have to face Willie Mullins’ formidable mare here.

She’s 2/1 alongside Dan Skelton’s The New Lion at the head of the betting. She was half a length ahead of him at Cheltenham and, although it seems the Skelton yard think the extra trip will help their charge, it’s hard to see Brighterdaysahead not improving on a flatter track and she’s the one for us.

Brookie 14/1 – Red Rum Handicap Chase

Last but not least is the longest price of all four selections, as we look to boost the odds of our Lucky 15 after what are three safer bets on paper.

We’re siding with Brookie in the Red Rum. Anthony Honeyball’s charge hasn’t quite had the season he’d have hoped for off the back of his successes last term, but that’s largely been due to not getting his ground.

Brookie is a horse that thrives on quick ground, as he showed when finishing second at this meeting last year in the Grade 1 Maghull Novices’ Chase. That is some eye-catching course and distance form and at 14/1 he’s well worth chancing if back on song after his comeback run in the Champion Chase.