Grand National Festival Day 1 Tips: Check Out Raceolly's Best Bets For Thursday At Aintree

We are set for three fabulous days at Aintree with the Grand National the showpiece event on Saturday. However, our top tipster Raceolly has focused his attentions on Thursday's top class action on Merseyside and provides his best bets here...

SCRIPTWRITER was favourite for the Triumph for a long while ante-post, but a disappointing effort in the Adonis saw his stock fall and he ended up missing Cheltenham all together. That clearly wasn’t his true running though and the yard won this last season with one that was also coming here on the back of a disappointing effort. He has plenty of form on softer ground and Harry Cobden has a 40% win rate for the yard after six wins from 15 rides over the last five years. The race could set up nicely for him off a likely strong pace and trainer has a 44% win rate at Aintree over the last five years after four winners from nine runners.

MAGIC SAINT has plenty of form in big field races and is rated to go very close in this. Just denied by Bennys King at Hereford on Hunter chase debut before hacking up last time at Wincanton when odds on ridden both times by Olive Nicholls who has won on two of her five rides for her father Paul. The trip and ground will be perfect and his previous spin over the obstacles didn’t go as planned, but that was off a mark of 157 and he carried top weight, the jockey also lost his irons before pulling up. Still only nine years old and comes here fresh with this race a likely target for some time.

HATCHER is clearly a very talented horse who hasn’t had a lot of luck this season and has failed to finish on five of his last six starts. He has won 14 times in his career the last of which came off a mark 13lb higher in July 2021. He took a heavy fall when in 2nd and closing at Ayr in April 2022 and wasn’t seen again for 238 days, took a while to get going again before connections tried wind surgery which after a 103 day break saw him finish a good 3rd when sent off a unfancied 80/1 at Ascot. Dan Skelton's ten-year-old is well handicapped and in a good position to now build on that with breathing issues that hindered him at the end of last year now sorted. Skelton also has the well fancied Third Time Lucki in this but it’s hard to ignore Hatcher who’s won five times off higher marks than this and even has a further 5lbs taken off by Tristian Durrell.

GAILLIMH A RUN's connections won this race in 2018 with trainer and jockey combining to win with hot favourite Getaway Katie Mai. John Queally hasn’t made the journey to Aintree for some time but when he does they usually go close with him winning five times from 15 runners here through his career and Jamie Codd riding one horse for him in the UK which resulted in a win. The most interesting stat from Queally though is that he’s sent four runners over here to compete in bumper races of which three have won and Codd is a great booking of course, who himself boasts a 36% win rate when riding in UK bumpers. Some of her form has been franked since and has form on soft ground to boot.