Aintree review and free video replays from the Randox Grand National Festival

Stylish Snow delivers at Aintree

Joe O'Shea exuded confidence before the Randox Foxhunters' Open Hunters' Chase saying Barton Snow (7/4 favourite) only needed to jump round to win and the trainer was proved on the money as Henry Crow again exuded the utmost confidence in the saddle.

The winner of the Princess Royal Challenge Cup at Cheltenham last month, Barton Snow was dropping back significantly in trip for this two mile five furlong contest but had no trouble going the early gallop set by last year's winner Grachhus De Balme.

Crow bided his time and dropped back to fifth as those around him went for home before the second last and observers couldn't help but wonder if his epic victory had taken the edge off him but as the others fell by the wayside, Barton Snow readily made his ground on Take All and a confident Crow was still sitting still and checking his wing mirrors for dangers.

There were none in sight and Barton Snow eased clear as he liked, winning by seven lengths from Lets Go Champ with Take It All a further length and a quarter back in third.

Barton Snow was the first to complete the Cheltenham / Aintree double since On The Fringe in 2016 and provided O'Shea with his third win of the Aintree contest and Crow revealed on Racing TV that it was just as easy as it looked.

"It was fantastic, he won it very, very well," Crow said.

"We went a good gallop. The ground was probably soft but he did it well. There wasn't an error, he probably wasn't as fluent over these fences as he was over the regulation fences but he still jumped well. The race went perfectly as planned and I was happy all the way and he just cruised into it.

"He won it very well, I just had to sit there really. I just know the horse and when to keep a hold of him and when to let him roll a little bit but when you've got a horse like that, it makes it so much easier. We know off the gallops how good he is and Joe has got some very, very good horses at home."

O’Shea said: "We don’t know how good he is. He does this at home every day.

“He’s an amazing horse, and again Henry says he’s done it in third gear. We first realised how good he was at Stratford last year, and he doesn't just do 37 miles an hour for 100yards - he keeps it up. I just wish my other two had been second and third as I had the tricast for half a million quid!”

On his decision to retire at the end of season, he added: “If I don't give it up the consultant says I’m going to die. I’ve got to walk away or die. I’ve had a quadruple heart bypass and I’m putting myself under too much pressure he says.

“And we’ve got one better at home. We’ve got a horse called Boley Bob, who is by the same stallion, Snow Sky, and he’s won four out of four for me. He’ll win in two weeks’ time at Hexham and if I do decide to stay it won’t be because of Barton Snow, it will be because of Boldy Bob and he’s another dodgepot like him - he stops in front.

"Watch out for him. He’s brilliant.”

Divin delivers Manifesto

The poor run of favourites in the William Hill Manifesto Novices' Chase - no winner in 11 runnings - continued as Lulamba unseated Nico de Boinville at the tenth fence in the Grade 1.

There appeared to be a frenetic race for the early lead with Koktail Divin (3/1), Mambonumberfive and Blueking d'Oroux seemingly keen to take them along and both Lulamba and Jax Junior seemed to be out of their comfort zone.

It wasn't long until the pace settled down though with Blueking d'Oroux allowed the lead and there weren't too many changes to the order until they entered the back straight and Lulamba unseated. There was a palpable shift in the body language of the three principal jockeys with the crown up for grabs.

Blueking d'Oroux looked to have blundered away his chance at the top of the straight but he showed a good attitude to rally as Mambonumberfive ran out of gas in a matter of strides but Koktail Divin was away and gone, crossing the line with two and a quarter lengths in hand.

Trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Darragh O'Keeffe, Koktail Divin had run well for a long way in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at Cheltenham - rather than contest the Jack Richards Novices' Handicap - and proved well suited to returning to this intermediate trip although Paddy Power left Koktail Divin unchanged at 16/1 for next season's Ryanair Chase.

O'Keeffe told Racing TV: "We always felt he was up to Grade 1 standard and it just took a couple of runs to figure him out; he was very impressive at Leopardstown and we wanted to give the Grade 1 a go at Cheltenham and I think we learned plenty about him that day. A huge credit to the horse to come back here today after having a grueller.

"A good performance and his jumping was superb again today. I was nice and handy today and wherever I was, I just wanted to get into a nice rhythm. I couldn't really hear a whole lot coming down the back straight but I could hear the commentator gasp or something so I knew Lulamba had disappeared from my inside; I just wanted to keep my horse in a rhythm.

"He's still a bit raw but as soon as he heard the other horse coming I felt him picking up.

"Definitely at Cheltenham this year we didn't get it [three miles]. I think over this trip you can really use his jumping and use his stride whereas at Cheltenham I jumped really well but I was always taking him back; today, if I gained a length I could keep it. Maybe in time he will, he's only a six-year-old but it's great to get a Grade 1 winner."

De Bromhead explained the rationale behind taking in the three mile contest last month, saying: "We wanted to go and try and see because we didn't know whether he stayed or not. He obviously looked a little bit outstayed at Punchestown and we hoped on better ground he would stay, he didn't - he looked the winner to my eye turning in - and so we said we'd drop back in trip and give this a go.

"Delighted for him. Darragh was brilliant on him and delighted for the Maloney family, massive supporters of ours. He's tough and he jumped brilliant."

That was in contrast to Lulamba whose trainer Nicky Henderson said: “It was just one of those things and he is like a lunatic up there. We are all frustrated and that goes without saying. He was thoroughly enjoying himself out there.

“He was travelling great and I thought he had the jumped the fence, and I was looking onto the next fence, and then all of a sudden that happened. If they fall you have to take that, but when you do something like that it drives you mad and unfortunately that is the end of the season.

“There wasn’t a race for him at Punchestown so he is not in one there. There is a two mile race and a three mile race, and I don’t want to go three miles at the moment, and I certainly wouldn’t want to come back down to two miles. Something like the two mile five furlong Grade Two at Ascot where Jango Baie started this year would be the sort of idea next season. It was just frustrating."

Mange Tout dishes out defeat

Mange Tout got the better of a good tussle with Selma De Vary in the Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle.

Fairly strong in the market for the Grade 1, Mange Tout settled better than had been the case earlier in her career for Gordon Elliott and raced kindly in the middle of the pack as Lord and Ammes took them along.

The 9/4 favourite Selma De Vary was anchored in rear by Paul Townend with Maestro Conti and Minella Study - second and third in the Triumph Hurdle - buried in the field initially but Maestro Conti was over-racing as they passed the winning post for the first time. The pace did quicken on entering the back straight and Selma De Vary made smooth progress onto the quarters of Maestro Conti, ensuring her rivals were covered.

Jack Kennedy was alive to the danger, giving Selma De Vary a bump as he moved Mange Tout towards the outside to make sure they had racing room and the two Irish trained fillies eased to the head of affairs on the stands' side.

Indian River came through the field but could never quite lay down a challenge to the front pair who had the race between them from the last. Selma De Vary kept finding but Mange Tout always looked to be keeping her at bay, winning by three parts of a length as they pulled three and a half lengths clear of the remainder.

Minella Study was one of the first beaten, looking flat after his exertions last month, while another that showed up prominently at Cheltenham, Winston Junior, also dropped out quickly.

Elliott said: "Jack gave her a beautiful ride. We said we'd drop her out completely and see how she settled, she was too keen at Leopardstown the last day, put a hood on her, put a sheepskin on and try something different; it was a good performance.

"She's actually put on a lot of weight. We were thinking of going to Cheltenham but we felt the week before she was very light.

"I thought Jack won the race from the fourth last to the third last and you could see Paul trying to hold him in and he just got out and got his position, that's race riding. It's great to come here and get another Grade 1 winner."

Kennedy added: "We rode her a little bit more patiently today as she can over-race a bit. She settled better today but still wasn't fully relaxed. Jumped great, she's not the quickest in the world and I was conscious not to get caught in a pocket and ended up there a bit soon on her and she didn't do much up the straight but she was good.

"I knew Paul would be coming around me if he was coming anywhere so I just wanted to get out and get a clear run. My one wasn't doing a whole pile in front and Paul was on my outside and I wanted to keep her close to him so she'd get pushed along and wouldn't idle too much. I was there [in front] a long time and she was only doing what she had to do."

Townend said of Selma De Vary: “She ran a cracker. We were probably just beaten by a fresher one on the day. There was very little between them the last time they met too."

Adrian Keatley, trainer of the third Indian River, said: "It was a good run but we didn't bring him down for the sake of it and we didn't run him at Cheltenham for the sake of it, we thought we had a fair horse. He had a lot to find with the first two and he had to give them 7lb. It was a good run.

"He's had a hard enough campaign for a horse who'd only had two runs coming from Ireland and he's not the easiest on himself."

Rocket lands Red Rum

Ryan's Rocket (14/1) put some jumping woes behind him to win the Close Brothers Red Rum Handicap Chase.

Fergal O'Brien's charge had unseated twice in his last four starts and blundered his chance away last time but Johnny Burke gave him a ride full of confidence, riding him close to the fierce pace that Sans Bruit - 7/2 favourite in his bid to complete a hat-trick in the race - was setting.

Highlands Legacy was never far away either and nothing from off the pace was able to lay a glove on the front three. Sans Bruit only backed out in the straight, leaving the other pair to duel it out.

Ryan's Rocket appeared to be getting the upper hand when a calamitous error at the final fence put paid to any chance that Highland's Legacy still held. Jonjo O'Neill Jr worked wonders to keep the partnership intact and was rewarded with the runner-up's berth with the winning margins three and a half lengths and seven and a half lengths.

Burke was relieved that his confidence in Ryan's Rocket had finally been rewarded.

“He’s a lovely horse, we’ve always loved him but he’s had a hit and miss career - I fancied him for a Persian War back in the day and he let us down - and it’s taken a while to figure him out," he said.

"We always thought he was a stayer but I can't believe how quick he is. I decided to go with them as we held onto him last time. He answered every call - we went fast - but I was always happy. I always felt I was getting on top. I felt like I had something left.”

Choice purchase

Nan's Choice (9/2) made a winning debut for Dan Skelton in the Garde 2 Goffs Nickel Coin Mares' Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race.

Bought for £115,000 after winning the second of her two starts in Ireland for Conor Houlihan, Nan's Choice appeared to be travelling powerfully under Harry Skelton with a furlong or so to run.

However, when Skelton asked her to go and win her race Nan's Choice showed plenty of inexperience, hanging right under pressure and then left, edging all the way over to the inside running rail. The rail may well have helped Nan's Choice as she then kept a true path to the line to deny the persistent challenge of Lemon Grove.

Fairy Park ran well in third. She caught the eye towards the rear on the outside on the final turn and appeared to be caught a little flat-footed when the tempo really lifted but she stayed on resolutely to claim minor honours.

The official distances were one and a quarter lengths and a length.

The winning jockey said: "She's very uncomplicated. She's very tough. I hadn't really sat on her much at home. Sean O'Connor rides her out every day and gave me all the advice on her, he thought she was pretty smart.

"She put the race to bed quite nicely although I must admit, halfway up the run-in I thought 'oh no' when she had a look in front but very game, nice mare. There's a big crowd, lots to take in for her and probably a few more people than there was at Gowran.

"She's won with a bit in hand.

"Down the back we weren't going that quick and I thought let her go a stride forward and we can not get pushed too wide around the bend, leave the back straight and I could just sit in and fill her up all the way round until we straightened up. I got to the wings of two out and she's come home well."

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• 2026 Grand National preview podcast
• Dan Skelton: My Aintree squad