Five horses to follow on Grand National day at Aintree
By Harry Allwood
Last Updated: Sat 11 Apr 2026
Dave Nevison, Martin Dixon, Andy Stephens (RaceiQ) and Johnny Ward shares selections for the action on Randox Grand National day, live on Racing TV.
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1.20 Aintree: Kaka’s Cousin
Tipster: Dave Nevison.
Best odds: 10-1 (each-way).
Dave Nevison
Finished: 11thSP: 13/2
Jonjo & A J O'Neill remain in good form after an excellent Cheltenham Festival, but a string of second places from their runners recently must be very frustrating.
Kaka’s Cousin is one of three quite obvious fancies I narrowed this race down to, and is available at much bigger odds than the other two, so I am happy to side with him each-way in this big-field handicap.
He has won a couple of fairly decent northern novice events, and performed creditably in the European Breeders' Fund Betfair "National Hunt" Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final at Sandown on his only previous handicap start.
He has only been raised 2lb for that good effort, and could easily improve for this step up in distance to three miles.
1.55 Aintree: Montemares
Tipster: Martin Dixon.
Best odds: 15-2 (each-way).
Martin Dixon
Finished: 5thSP: 5/1
Given that he was a very well-backed winner on his racecourse debut at Hereford in November I suspect Montemares has always been very highly regarded by Tom Lacey and he's made great strides in his short career to date, winning three of his four starts.
Having looked so green on that first start only five months ago I was seriously impressed by how much more professional he looked returning from a short break at Kelso in February, powering through the race and landing that Grade Two contest with real authority.
This is a further step up in grade but I like the fact that, unlike many of his rivals here, he missed Cheltenham and has been trained to prime at this meeting and I think there's a lot more improvement to come. He's 15/2 at the time of writing and I rate him a very strong each-way bet.
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2.30 Aintree: Mr Hope Street
Tipster: Dave Nevison.
Best odds: 11-4.
Dave Nevison
Finished: 1stSP: 4/1
A few of us had high hopes for this gelding this season, but it hasn’t really happened in three runs so far.
Mr Hope Street ran a promising first race over fences at Carlisle, and while not disgraced on two subsequent runs, he hasn’t progressed in the way I might have anticipated.
I have been a little surprised that Dan Skelton has waited until now before stepping him up to three miles over fences, as it definitely looks his trip as he scored over this distance over hurdles.
He has been dropped a pound since his last run, and if my conviction is correct (that he will improve over this distance) then he could be nicely treated indeed.
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4.00 Aintree: Grangeclare West
Tipster: RaceiQ nap of the day (Andy Stephens).
Best odds: 10-1.
RaceiQ Nap Of The Day
Finished: UR SP: 9/1
Looked an unlucky loser in the National last year when his worst jumps came at the final two fences. At the penultimate obstacle, he lost 6.86mph and took 2sec to get back up to speed after slowing into it. Worse was to come at the last when he pitched on landing. That lost him 7.83mph and it took him 2.7sec to recover.
Nick Rockett, the winner, swiped 6.83 lengths off him at those obstacles before you could say Numbersixvalverde, while I Am Maximum gained 4.39 lengths off him. He was beaten just three lengths.
Grangeclare West got scores of 6.2 and 4.6 for those last two leaps but had been so proficient beforehand that, overall, he was seventh best jumper in the race. He would surely have won but for those blips as he was fastest in each of last two furlongs despite having to get his engine back up to full speed.
This season has been a bit of a mix for him, but he snapped a lengthy losing run last time when winning the Bobbyjo Chase in fluent fashion last time. Patrick Mullins, who guided Nick Rockett to glory last year, takes over in the saddle. The combination look the pair to beat.
4.00 Aintree: I Am Maximus
Tipster: Johnny Ward.
Best odds: 15-2.
Johnny Ward
Finished: 1stSP: 9/2
Johnny Ward's Randox Grand National Pick
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