The Aintree Festival ends with a cracking day of action on Saturday, April 13 with the Grand National taking centre stage at 4pm.
Following a dream week for the punters which has seen favourite after favourite get over the line in first, day three looks to be the toughest test yet with a number of upsets surely on the card.
Aintree Festival Day 3 Tips
3:05 – Buddy One E/W @ 12/1
The Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle is headed by market leader Flooring Porter – who finished an impressive second to the well fancied Teahupoo in the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham – but preference goes to Buddy One at the prices, who ran a stormer to finish fourth and roughly four lengths off Saturday’s favourite.
Paul Gilligan’s seven-year-old outran his 40/1 odds on the day at Cheltenham to finish in front of Sire Du Berlais – who won this race last year after landing the Stayers’ Hurdle the month before. Buddy One is over double the price of Sire Du Berlais and he remains open to improvement.
The ground won’t be an issue and he stacks up pretty well alongside his rivals on ratings. Buddy One has posted a solid result at Aintree in the past and has every chance of running into the places.
5:00 – Found A Fifty @ 2/1
This looks an awfully generous price for Gordon Elliott’s Found A Fifty, who was last seen chasing home Gaelic Warrior in the Arkle at Cheltenham. That form has been given another boost thanks to Il Etait Temps’ win on Thursday and he looks a class above this field.
Found A Fifty has progressed into an impressive chaser and the seven-year-old has looked more than comfortable in Grade 1 waters all season. He’s sure to handle the ground and I’d be surprised if his price was held around the 2/1 range.
