Nico de Boinville: “They’ll be worse each-way bets in the race”

Grand National – 5.15pm Aintree

Mister Coffey

You have to go back to November 2020 to find the last time he got his head in front but, a moderate run in last season’s Topham aside, you can pretty much set your watch by him. He may lack the winning edge but he really promises to be suited by this stamina test, he has Cheltenham Festival form – he ran well when third in the National Hunt Chase last time – and a mark of 145 is fair enough if he is at his best. They’ll be worse each-way bets in the race, and stranger things have happened than him winning. You have go into the race in a positive mindset, after all!

Here is my idea of the 1-2-3-4 in the race.

1. Mister Coffey
2. Corach Rambler
3. Noble Yeats
4. Longhouse Poet

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2.25pm Aintree

Mill Green

He excels at Cheltenham and he was placed in the Pertemps for the second time last month, at one point looking like he was going to win. A big field, a good pace and a bit of ease in the ground is what he wants, and he clearly has a good each-way chance again, even if the handicapper would appear to just about have his measure. He finished third in this race last year.

3.35pm Aintree

Marie’s Rock

She ran one of her rare below-par efforts in the mares’ hurdle last time and I can’t really tell you why she did. Perhaps it was the pace of the race, as we crawled and then sprinted, and that wasn’t ideal for her. But we know she is a lot better than that and her earlier 6-length defeat of the Stayers’ Hurdle runner-up Dashel Drasher in the Relkeel clearly puts her bang in the picture here. She obviously needs to bounce back but we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have the belief that she can, and the step up to 3m will hopefully suit her.