Thursday horse racing tips: Best Aintree bets at Grand National Festival from Tom Lunn

talkSPORT have you covered with horse racing free bets and also racing tips for Thursdays meeting at Aintree for the Grand National Festival.

Tom Lunn has gone through the racecard, form, going, race replays and much more to help guide your horse racing betting choices with a few tips on the day’s action.

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Thursday Aintree horse racing tips

• 1.45: Maestro Conti 7/2 (1pt)
• 2.20: Lulamba 4/7 (1pt)
• 2.55: Jango Baie 1/1 (1pt)
• 4.05: The New Lion 2/1 (1pt)

Grand National 2026 tips

Maestro Conti 7/2

Paul Townend and Willie Mullins won this last year with Murcia and the trainer won it with Zenta in 2023, while Nicky Henderson’s late and great Sir Gino won this race in 2024, having also won it in 2018 and 2019.

Mullins has the favourite this year narrowly ahead of Dan Skelton’s Maestro Conti.

Skelton has yet to win this race but the part owner Sir Alex Ferguson has won it before with Monmiral in 2021.

This is essentially a Triumph rematch between these two horses who were together all the way round Cheltenham really, until Maestro Conti had that little bit more to go ahead and might have more on rematch with a similar tactic.

Lulamba 4/7

It will be a well-deserved victory for Lulamba and Henderson in this Manifesto Novices’ Chase.

The horse finished third behind Kargese in the Arkle but comes up against a significantly weaker field in which he can dominate from the start.

Jango Baie

I had originally tipped up Spillane’s Tower for the Grand National but he has also been confirmed instead for the Aintree Bowl.

The 3m1f chase should suit the JP McManus-owned horse who has long been a three miler.

But it’s really hard to fancy him over Jango Baie who has proven each time his performances over these distances are even better and will get the right ground too, whereas Spillane’s Tower won’t appreciate the quicker going that’s set to come this week.

Going incredibly close in the King George VI Chase at Kempton before a valiant second behind Gaelic Warrior in the Gold Cup.

This horse could out run them all in the final couple of furlongs with the right conditions and tactics, and is well-fancied in this small field.

The New Lion

Brighterdaysahead won in this festival before, crucially over the same course and distance but has predominantly been seen over 2m rather than this trip.

The New Lion could be the one to challenge her in this renewal as he seems more suited to the extra few furlongs.

He’s not been seen this season over this far and hasn’t been over 2m4+ since winning the Turners Novices’ Hurdle and his whole debut campaign over hurdles was over further where he dominated.

This return to two and a half miles could see the full scope of what The New Lion is capable of, which is clear he is a top hurdler.

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Tom Lunn’s Horse Racing Profit & Loss

• March ’26: +11.31pts
• From October ’25: +38.46pts
• From March ’25: +109.76pts
• From Oct ’23: +419.61pts

All odds correct at time of writing

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