Grand National Festival 2025: Ben and Conlan's Day 3 Tips

My best bet on Grand National Day is Lulamba, who runs in the Turners Mersey Novices' Hurdle. The Donnelly horse ran a good race at Cheltenham, but was beaten by a 100/1 shot in the final stages, despite holding the lead at one point on the final run-in.

Trained by Nicky Henderson, he has been lightly raced this season, and I think this will only benefit him, as the gelding will only get better with experience, but the positives do not stop there. He comes into this weight almost a stone lower than his competitors, due to his 4-year-old allowance, making him fantastically handicapped here.

He holds the highest rating in this race, and even if he were alongside others in the weights, I'd still be looking to back him. For me, an easy choice for my NAP of the day.

My final Best Bet for the Grand National Festival comes in the Grade 1 Maghull Novices’ Chase, and it goes to the Gavin Cromwell-trained Only By Night.

This horse really showed her prowess in the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival last month, throwing his 25/1 price tag into the fire to run on to a ¾ length second to the impressive Jango Baie, upending other class acts such as Majborough and a repeat rival in this race, L’Eau du Sud.

The Skelton-trained gelding bids to put his previous run behind him when clearly not performing to the best of his abilities, but I was incredibly impressed with Only By Night in that race and would be surprised to see the form reversed over the same trip.

The mare also has the swing of the weights in her favour, running 7lb lighter than L’Eau du Sud, which made the difference last time out.

My Next Best of the day is Only By Night, who runs in the Grade 1 Maghull Novices' Chase at 5:00. It is probably worth stating that I feel this is a second NAP, rather than a NB, because I feel so strongly about the mare's chances too.

At the time of writing this, the mare is the second favourite in the market, with L'Eau du Sud taking the preference so far. So I'm looking to take advantage of this price whilst I can, because I think this is a huge error.

Not only did the Cromwell-trained horse finish ahead of the favourite at Cheltenham, even if not by much, but she comes into this race off the same weight as she was in the Arkle, which will only go in her favour.

Her run at Cheltenham was immense, and I think Keith Donoghue will be well poised to back it up again at Aintree.

Teahupoo is my next best fancy in the Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle, taking place over 3m½f. I am a huge fan of this horse, which you will have noticed in my Cheltenham Festival tips for the Stayers’ Hurdle.

He was unfortunate there, losing out by just short of 2 lengths to Bob Olinger who absolutely loves Cheltenham and continued his unbeaten streak there, winning 4 from 4. He stayed on well towards the back end of this race and gave good signs that he could come back in this race and go one better, this being his first trip to the Liverpool racetrack. 

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Strong Leader will put up a good performance in this race, with a solid record at Aintree (121) under his belt, including a Grade 1 victory in this race last year. It hasn’t gone too well for him in his last two runs, where both came in hot company which could provide the excuse.

A wind op after his last place finish at Ascot in December could hopefully help turn the screw and get him back into the frame under Sean Bowen.

My final pick of the day coincidentally comes in the first race of the day, where I've got Push The Button in the Class 1 William Hill Top Price Guarantee Handicap Hurdle.

The gelding is a horse that I've had my eye on for quite a while, and he has yet to really make the step up into the good horse which I feel he will be, but I am hopeful that the step back up to 3 miles will only benefit him.

He came second in a Class 2 at Windsor in his first complete run at this distance, before being put into 2-mile races, so I think this return bodes well.

His last run came at Cheltenham, where he finished 12 lengths behind Wodhooh, but I felt he stayed on brilliantly at the end of the race, and I think this again could be something that plays into his favour over a longer trip.

Additionally, Irish-bred horses dominated this race this year, and it wouldn't surprise me if that is the case again here. At this price, I like his chances Each-Way.

My final selection for the Grand National Festival goes to Act Of Authority, running for Olly Murphy under the mount of Lewis Saunders, who is a 7lb claimer.

This horse may go off at a very short price on the day, rendering the tag of a 'long shot’ effectively null, but it’s one I think has an excellent chance in the Grade 3 William Hill Top Price Guarantee Handicap Hurdle, the first race of the day on Grand National Day. He chased home Wodhooh in the Martin Pipe at the Cheltenham Festival last month, albeit over a shorter trip than they’re running over today.

This form has worked out incredibly well, however, as Wodhooh put in a superb performance under Danny Gilligan to pull a close second to Lossiemouth in the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle on Thursday.

With the added benefit of carrying 7lb less than he usually should due to the booking of Lewis Saunders, and as long as he can stay the trip, this should be an excellent opportunity to pick up his first Graded event at the second time of asking.