Three horses that will love the mud on Day 1 of Aintree’s Grand National Festival

Champ and Mark Walsh win the Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree 5/4/19

It’s fair to say that conditions at Aintree on Thursday aren’t going to be what we usually get at this time of year. The relentless rain in 2024 continues and the official going description on the Mildmay course is soft, heavy in places. Heavy, soft in places on the National course, it’s going to be hard work on Day 1 of the Grand National Festival.

We’ve selected three horses that are likely to thrive in the testing conditions, whilst some will get stuck in the mud. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing, where we’ll have a tip for every race at Aintree.

1.45 Aintree

Grey Dawning has won five of his seven starts on soft ground and is also unbeaten in two starts on heavy. That certainly bodes well for his chances here and he’s also the best horse in the race on form. It was an excellent performance at the Cheltenham Festival last time out and a reproduction of that effort should be more than enough.

3.30 Aintree

Bob Olinger has had three starts on soft to heavy going in Ireland and they have resulted in three victories by an accumulative total of 25 lengths. He’s been a resurgent horse this season and is back to somewhere near his best. 2m4f appears to be his ideal trip and Henry de Bromhead’s gelding is the one they all have to beat.

4.05 Aintree

It’s On The Line has never finished outside of the first two in five runs on soft ground and was victorious on his sole start on heavy. The National Course is even more testing than the other track so soft ground form will be of vital importance here. Emmet Mullins’ seven-year-old finished second at the Cheltenham Festival last time out and should be in the mix once again.

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