The four Grade 1 jump races at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on Thursday are second-chance opportunities at significant prizes for a prominent group of chasers and hurdlers beaten in similar races at the prestigious four-day Cheltenham Festival last month.
The Cheltenham Festival compares well in quality to the Breeders’ Cup in the United States, and the three-day Grand National meeting that begins Thursday at Aintree is another objective for top-class runners from Britain and Ireland in early spring.
With a four-week gap this year between the two meetings, there is plenty of Cheltenham form to consider from Thursday through Saturday. The week’s leading race is the famous Grand National steeplechase on Saturday.
Thursday’s richest races are Grade 1 races worth $331,000 – the Racing Welfare Bowl Chase at 3 1/8 miles and the Aintree Hurdle at 2 1/2 miles.
Jango Baie, a 7-year-old gelding who was second in the Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup on March 13, will be an odds-on favorite against four rivals in the Racing Welfare Bowl Chase.
A winner of 3 of 7 starts in chases, Jango Baie has a surprise opponent on Thursday in Spillane’s Tower, winner of the Grade 2 Cotswolds Chase at Cheltenham in January.
Spillane’s Tower was held out of the Cheltenham Gold Cup out of concern the turf was too firm. He was under consideration for the Grand National until recent days.
The Aintree Hurdle drew a field of seven and is more competitive from a betting standpoint. The New Lion, third in the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on March 10, was the 9-5 favorite on Tuesday, a slight choice over 5-2 Brighterdaysahead, who was second in the Champion Hurdle.
The New Lion is trained by Dan Skelton, the clear leader in the British jump trainer standings by earnings.
Thursday’s program, which has a first post time of 8:45 a.m. Eastern, begins with a Grade 1 juvenile hurdle for 4-year-olds at 2 1/8 miles. The $145,600 race drew a field of 10, led by the second- through fourth-place finishers of the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle on March 13 at Cheltenham – Maestro Conti, Minella Study, and Selma De Vary.
Selma De Vary, a filly trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins, was the 3-1 favorite on Tuesday, a slight choice over 10-3 Maestro Conti, who was beaten for the first time in his fourth start in the Triumph Hurdle for Skelton.
In Thursday’s second race, the 5-year-old gelding Lulamba will be an odds-on favorite against four rivals in a Grade 1 novices’ chase at 2 1/2 miles.
Lulamba, trained by Nicky Henderson, was third as the 11-10 favorite in the Grade 1 Arkle chase for novices on March 10 at Cheltenham, a loss that ended a four-race winning streak.
Thursday’s race will be the longest in Lulamba’s career and will pose a stamina test, considering he often races near the front. Should a quick pace develop, the Irish shipper Koktail Divin can be a threat. A stalker, Koktail Divin was sixth of 11 in a Grade 1 novices’ chase at 3 1/8 miles on March 11 at Cheltenham in the longest race of his career.
Aintree has a dedicated course for the Grand National and runs three races on the surface this week.
On Thursday, the course will be used for the Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase at 2 5/8 miles. Barton Snow, who won the Hunters’ Chase at 3 1/4 miles on March 13 at Cheltenham for his seventh consecutive win since the beginning of 2025, will be favored in a field of 25, the largest on Thursday’s seven-race program.
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