Saturday horse racing tips from Tom Lunn at Aintree’s Grand National Festival

talkSPORT have you covered for the horse racing with free racing tips and from the day’s racecard at Aintree for the Grand National festival.

Tom Lunn has gone through the cards, form, going and much more to help guide your horse racing betting choices.

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Saturday April 13th horse racing tips
AINTREE
1.20: Johnson’s Blue 25/1 each-way (1pt) Bold Endeavour (top 10 finish) 1/1 (2pts)
1.55: Caldwell Potter 11/4 (NB – 2pts)
2.30: Twig 15/2 (1pt) & Kinondo Kwetu 20/1 each-way (1pt)
3.05: Hewick 12/1 each-way (1.5pts) & Strong Leader 11/1 EW (1pt)
GRAND NATIONAL, 4.00: Vanillier (2pts), Latenightpass, Adamantly Chosen, Chemical Energy each-way (1pt each)
5.00: Found A Fifty 2/1 (NAP – 2pts)
Johnson’s Blue & Bold EndeavourBold Endeavour is a huge price at even money to finish in just the top ten out of the 22 runners.

He carries among the top weight and despite that should be able to defy that as he’s incredibly consistent with form reading 235264.

Johnson’s Blue is a great each-way shot too though also at 25/1 but could grab a win carrying just 11st.

He beat Come On Teddy last time out, on his first start since September despite carrying top-weight on soft ground.

Only up 5lb for that victory and comes here with eight wins from just 15 runs, continually progressing.

Caldwell PotterBought for 740,000 euros after his Irish Grade 1 win where this grey gelding beat Predators Gold comfortably, by over six lengths.

They won’t have picked up this horse for that price for no reason and though he’s coming up against Brighterdaysahead who gets 7lb in hand on all his rivals, he’s still got a great chance of defying that after a fairly lacklustre performance from the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Caldwell Potter has won two in a row and could easily progress further for new connections up against his old trainer, going up in trip to 2m4f.

Should have all the ability for Sir Alex Ferguson and co-owners.

Kinondo Kwetu & TwigWent well two starts ago back in July to place behind Twig, who reappears as a rival here, but as a 17/2 shot you can’t dismiss Kinondo’s chances at a massive price as he’s well-in against that horse.

He carried top-weight at Uttoxeter over 3m2f giving away 17lb to Twig but now is given 3lb from that rival with his great races this season.

Ground could be a concern but it should dry out enough for him to give it a good go at a massive price, and his pedigree doesn’t suggest he’ll hate softer ground either.

He’s unraced on soft or heavy which is a surprise after 15 races, which could be by design, but he does mainly race in the spring/summer months and thrives at Aintree too.

Twig also has to be a contender at a big price who goes well on soft and has shown great stamina recently.

Twig went really well to go second behind Chianti Classico in the Ultima at Cheltenham Festival.

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Hewick & Strong Leader

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Hewick is a lovable little horse who has incredible staying powerCredit: GettyThis is an incredible renewal of the Liverpool Hurdle starring Flooring Porter, Sire Du Berlais (who won last year), Hiddenvalley Lake, Crambo and Strong Leader as the front five in the market.

Hewick makes a bold return to hurdles after last being seen winning the King George VI Chase, which was not on the cards at 20/1 and much higher in-running as he looked well beaten before reappearing from nowhere at the last and just getting the better of Bravemansgame and Allaho.

The American Grand National winner was last seen over hurdles just last year though, at Auteuil coming fourth behind Theleme, by a fair distance.

That form has worked out quite well over hurdles as Theleme has gone on to win twice at the same track in Grade 3 and Grade 1 company.

Hewick’s mark of 155 over hurdles coul also be ideal here, though he last had a mark of 130 in this discipline.

That being said, he’s made massive progress over fences and in general, and can never be underestimated, hence why he was the pick of the day for the King George at massive odds.

He’s a great bet but you can’t not double up on this race with Strong Leader, trained by Olly Murphy and ridden by Sean Bowen.

The horse is incredibly unexposed and may well be the future of the Stayers hurdles.

He was seen for the very first time over 3m at Cheltenham in January and put in a fantastic effort to come a close third behind Noble Yeats.

That form can’t be ignored and given that was his first time over that distance there’s surely got to be more to come from this seven-year-old who comes into this fresher than the rest who went to the festival.

Vanillier, Latenightpass, Adamantly Chosen & Chemical Energy

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Vanillier, with Keith Donoghue up, jumps the last during the first circuit on their way to winning the Liam & Valerie Brennan Florida Pearl Novice SteeplechaseCredit: GETTYVanillier has to be the main fancy for the Grand National.

The grey gelding stands out among the field, a striking gelding by Martaline, trained by Gavin Cromwell and ridden by Sean Flanagan.

Has form that surpasses most others as there’s not a question mark of if he finishes this course, as he came second to Corach Rambler last year.

He’s only 3lb higher for that with a few runs behind the winner, but they were in top races over much shorter trips.

Latenightpass has four chase wins from eight as well as two second place finishes.

The 11-year-old switched trainers just recently and it would be a massive story if he were to win on his first outing for Tom Ellis.

He’s placed and won once in 2023 over the Cheltenham X Country course, over 3m5f and went well in a Hunters’ Chase at Aintree a few months prior. A real stayer and jumps well so has to be one to watch out for.

Chemical Energy is trained by multiple national winner Gordon Elliott.

He’s fairly lightly raced over fences and has shown real stamina, most notably at Cheltenham Festival in 2023 in the Challenge Cup.

He finished just second behind Gaillard Du Mesnil over the tough 3m6f course in what were fairly tough conditions, with the going soft.

He’s only been seen twice since then and stands a massive chance if returning fresh and ready from his latest run in September.

Adamantly Chosen has drifted in the odds somewhat and that may be because he’s not expected to make the final cut with trainer Willie Mullins and connections perhaps looking at other options for the seven-year-old.

However, if there’s support from both to send him here it will only be because he’s more than ready.

Owned by Watch This Space syndicate, the gelding is an interesting runner with top form. Winning last time out by a wide margin when stepped up to 3m2f for the first time.

Found A FiftyGreat form behind Il Etait Temps in February which has been boosted with his incredible win on Thursday afternoon.

Then came second in Grade 1 company to Gaelic Warrior which puts him well ahead of some of these rivals.

Trainer Gordon Elliott hasn’t had much success recently but this is among his top chances of the weekend.

Tom Lunn’s Racing Tips Profit + Loss
October-Present: +140.59pts
Total from July 2023: +213.96pts
All odds correct at time of writing

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