1 of 1 UPDATED 8:42AM, APR 8 2021
ITV will be broadcasting five live races from the 2021 Grand National meeting at Aintree on Thursday. The action on day one features some high-class names, notably Tiger Roll, Buveur D Air and Native River, and we ve got you covered for the day s terrestrial TV coverage.
Aintree Thursday: ITV Racing tips
Our Spotlight experts select their best bets for the opening day of the Grand National festival
Doom Bar Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle, Grade 1, 2m1f
Paul Nicholls deliberately avoided the temptation of the Cheltenham Festival with the high-class Monmiral in favour of this contest and he bids to extend his unbeaten record to four on his first try at Grade 1 level. His main rival is already a top-level winner in Adagio, who heads to Merseyside after finishing a fine second in the Triumph Hurdle at Prestbury Park last month.
UPDATED 9:46PM, APR 7 2021
Betway Aintree Hurdle (Grade 1) | 2m4f | 4yo+ | ITV/RTV
The winners of all seven Grade 1 hurdles at last month’s Cheltenham Festival were trained in Ireland and it is therefore no surprise that two of the top three in this market are based in the Emerald Isle.
Abacadabras could not hold a candle to Honeysuckle when second in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown in February but it has since turned out that there are not many who can after the mare proved herself outstanding with victory at Cheltenham.
Abacadabras fell at the third flight in the Champion Hurdle and that is a concern. Backing last-time-out fallers in Grade 1 hurdles since the start of 2016 would have yielded a loss of £11.60 to £1 level stakes and only five have won from a total of 43 runners (12 per cent).
CHELTENHAM TIPS FOR DAY 1 OF THE 2021 FESTIVAL
Cheltenham tips for Champion Hurdle Day, Tuesday, March 16
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1.20pm - Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle
Willie Mullins trains the favourite for the very first race on the card this year in
APPRECIATE IT (7/4) who should win to get punters off to a good start from their sofas. His only defeats for Willie Mullins came on debut back in 2019 at Fairyhouse and at Cheltenham last year when his colours were lowered by Ferny Hollow in the Champion Bumper. Since then, he has looked iron clad over hurdles, winning three from three, including at the Dublin Racing Festival in February where he stamped his authority on a good field which included Ballyadam, currently third in the betting market for this race. If 7/4 is too short for you from a betting perspective,
CHELTENHAM TIPS FOR DAY 1 OF THE 2021 FESTIVAL dundalkdemocrat.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dundalkdemocrat.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UPDATED 12:31PM, MAR 14 2021
Honeysuckle and Epatante, the two superstar mares at the head of the betting for the Unibet Champion Hurdle, have both been declared for the feature race on day one of the Cheltenham Festival.
Goshen, aiming for redemption after his final-hurdle heartbreak in the Triumph Hurdle last year, is also declared with a field of ten set to go to post for one of the most anticipated races of the meeting.
The remainder of the British challenge comes from Epatante’s Christmas Hurdle conqueror Silver Streak – lining up in his third Champion Hurdle – and the Hughie Morrison-trained Not So Sleepy.