Day two was definitely a better result for my fancies, and it was nice to see She's A Saint winning at odds of 25/1 after being advised 20/1.
What a ride Tristan Durrell gave She's A Saint. I honestly gave up watching when she was turning for home, as she was off the bridle and was sitting in around tenth, but the horses ahead started to come back to her, and before I knew it, she stayed on like a trooper and pulled clear.
If you're wondering why I've not got a tip in the Grand National, it's because I am sitting on an antepost 66/1 slip for Stumptown, so I will not be going against him, and I will not be going back in on him. I didn't tip this antepost bet up, but I did make it public that I had it on and said at the time he was available at 50/1 or bigger, just in case people wanted to follow me. If he wins, it will not be noted in the profit/loss, but I am still crossing everything in my body that he manages to win, as I've been waiting since October!
Rizzel's tips
Act Of Authority 8/1 EW (5pl) – Aintree 1.20
The opening race of Grand National day is a competitive handicap hurdle race over 3m, but only one horse caught my eye and that is Act Of Authority.
Once I spotted this lad lining up for this race, I knew instantly he was my selection. He was second at the Cheltenham Festival in the Martin Pipe. That race has been one of the best handicaps to follow for winners in the last five or so renewals, with the likes of Galopin Des Champs, Langer Dan (didn't win the race), Iroko, Banbridge and this year Wodhooh. The form of this year's race has already been franked by the mare who finished second to Lossiemouth on Day 1 of the Festvial this week, losing her unbeaten tag but putting in a fine performance in a Grade 1 to a fantastic mare.
Act Of Authority ran a belter at Cheltenham to finish second to the mare who won, as she is clearly a Grade 1 mare. He was positioned towards the rear and had to make up a fair chunk of ground to get involved. He did well in the circumstances and was strong at the finish, which is why I believe this track and trip will be what he needs. This is a proper galloping track, and the extremely long straight at Aintree will allow him to get every ounce of stamina he has in his body. The handicapper took no risks by raising him 5lbs for his performance last time out, but Lewis Saunders keeps the ride and takes off 7lbs (wasn't able to claim last time out), and I think he has a superb chance.
Imperial Saint 11/2 – Aintree 2.30
There were only a couple of horses who caught my attention, besides my selection, in this race, so I didn't think it was the strongest of renewals. My Ultima selection, Happygolucky was up there for being picked again as he has previously won this race and showed that despite him getting on in age, he is still capable of mixing it based on his placed effort at Cheltenham. Eventually, I thought the course specialist, Imperial Saint, was worth a shot at this trip.
Imperial Saint is 3/3 at the track and is definitely much better at this venue than anywhere else, so it's hard to get away from his chances in this. He has to prove he stays the trip, but the way the yard has been firing in winners in the last month or so, you'd be more than happy to trust their expertise with this decision. In my opinion, I think he has every chance of staying the trip, as he is a PTP winner and was keeping on at the finish on his PTP debut, both being over 3m.
This ground means that it won't be a slog of a stamina test, and he seems to handle this ground really well, based on his previous runs over similar surfaces. And I think his jumping is a great asset for this race. Aintree is probably the toughest jumping test that we have to offer in the UK, so knowing he is 3/3 over these fences gives me plenty of confidence.
I've not had a look at the odds before writing this, but I get the impression he'll be the favourite at some stage.
Storming George 33/1 EW (4pl) – Aintree 5.35
I'm not a huge fan of bumper races, so I'll keep this short and sweet.
Neil King won this race in 2022 with Lookaway, who represented the same owner colours as Storming George. Storming George comes into this race with a similar profile, with just the one win from his bumper debut where he won nicely at Doncaster when not fancied in the market at all.
The form of the bumper race isn't spectacular, but knowing that Neil King won this race back in 2022, he knows the calibre of horse required to win, so they must feel like he possesses a similar level of bumper ability to Lookaway, which should put him up there with a cracking each way chance in this.
I like the pedigree of Storming George as he is by Order Of St George, who seems to be pumping out plenty of winners over the jumps, especially in the bumpers. The sire produced the winner of the Mares' Bumper on Day 1 in the shape of Seo Linn, so you can clearly see the flat bred speed from the sire is a huge factor.
GambleAware