WE’RE all set for yet another day of top-class racing action on Friday afternoon, as the second day of this year’s Grand National Festival hits our screens.
Known as ‘Ladies Day’, Day 2 mixes high quality sporting action on the track with top drawer fashion off it, as the fashionistas come out in force.
The feature race is the Grade 1 Melling Chase, in which Jonbon will be bidding to bounce back for the Nicky Henderson team after suffering defeat in last month’s Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
We’ve taken an extended look through the card to bring you some in-depth Grand National day 2 predictions below.
Best bets for Grand National Day 2
Grand National free bets for Ladies Day
Grand National day 2 race schedule
| Time | Race | Distance | Grade |
| 13:45 | Huyton Asphalt Mildmay Novices’ Chase | 3m1f | Grade 1 |
| 14:20 | William Hill Handicap Hurdle | 2m4f | Handicap |
| 14:55 | TrustATrader Top Novices’ Hurdle | 2m½f | Grade 1 |
| 15:30 | My Pension Expert Melling Chase | 2m4f | Grade 1 |
| 16:05 | Randox Topham Handicap Chase (National Course) | 2m5f | Handicap |
| 16:40 | Oddschecker Sefton Novices’ Hurdle | 3m½f | Grade 1 |
| 17:15 | Hallgarten And Novum Wines Handicap Hurdle | 2m½f | Handicap |
The runners and riders for Grand National day 2
Ladies Day always proves to be an entertaining occasion both on and off the track, particularly if the weather proves to be either too warm or too cold!
On the racing front, the card begins with the Mildmay Novices’ Chase, which generally features runners from the previous month’s Turners Novices’ Chase and Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. The race is certainly worth keeping an eye on, seeing as it has produced two subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup winners since 2016 in Native River and Inothewayurthinkin.
The feature race is the Melling Chase, in which Jonbon is an odds-on favourite despite disappointing in last month’s Queen Mother Champion Chase. It’s worth noting that five of the last 11 winners of this ran in that race, though none of the last four took that route – including Jonbon himself 12 months ago!
The Topham Chase is a big favourite of punters, as it’s a hugely tricky handicap which takes place over the Grand National fences. It often proves to be a tough puzzle to solve, so it may be worth noting that the last two Topham winners Arizona Carindal and Bill Baxter both won on their most recent starts.
Lastly, Romeo Coolio is a hot favourite for the Top Novices’ Hurdle after finishing a fine third in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle last month. Eight of the last 11 winners ran in that race, with none of those horses actually winning the Supreme to boot, meaning that the omens could be good for Gordon Elliott’s charge.
Tip 1 – Caldwell Potter in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase
A race which produced the subsequent Gold Cup hero Inothewayurthinkin, who defeated leading Grand National hope Iroko by four lengths this time last year. With the Brown Advisory winner Lecky Watson opting to swerve this, the favourite at the time of writing is Handstands, who missed the Cheltenham Festival altogether.
Ben Pauling’s charge was last seen winning the Grade 1 Scilly Iles Novices’ Chase at Sandown in February and that form certainly looks very healthy, as the runner-up that day Jango Baie went on to win the Arkle Trophy. He makes plenty of appeal when you bear in mind that the return to three miles should suit, though spring ground poses a question.
Dancing City lost all chance in the Brown Advisory when making a bad mistake three out but deserves another chance after a strong campaign, while Stellar Story deserves plenty of respect for his fine run to finish second in the same race. However, it could be worth chancing Caldwell Potter, the sole Cheltenham Festival winner in the field.
The seven-year-old has been something of a slow burner over fences so far, but he is not short on quality as a Grade 1-winning hurdler. He produced his best effort yet when winning last month’s Golden Miller, with a pillar-to-post performance and there’s a feeling that Aintree should suit his running style. This is obviously tougher, but there’s a feeling that he may not have finished improving yet and he’s fancied to take the step up in grade in his stride.
🏇 Back Caldwell Potter to win the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at 3/1 with Tote 🏇
Tip 2 – Tripoli Flyer in the Top Novices’ Hurdle
An intriguing renewal of the Top Novices’ Hurdle, in which Romeo Coolio seems likely to be a short-priced favourite. The six-year-old was a Grade 1 winner at Leopardstown over Christmas and lost little in defeat when a fine third in last month’s Supreme. He won’t face the same calibre of opposition that he did at Cheltenham here and he ought to go very close.
It’s likely that Romeo Coolio will be a chaser in time and with that in mind, it could be worth chancing that Tripoli Flyer can improve past him at the prices. The six-year-old has steadily improved in each of his four starts over timber so far, winning three, including most recently in a Grade 2 contest at Kempton in February.
Tripoli Flyer’s jumping isn’t his strong point, which is perhaps why Fergal O’Brien opted to swerve Cheltenham on this occasion with his charge, but he has a huge engine and there’s a feeling that Aintree will really suit the son of Getaway. It certainly isn’t impossible that he can find the necessary improvement to take this and he appeals as a nice bet at around the 7/2 mark with bet365.
🏇 Bet on Tripoli Flyer in the Top Novices’ Hurdle at 7/2 with bet365 🏇
Tip 3 – Jonbon in the Melling Chase
It’s very difficult to oppose Jonbon, who is looking to get back on track after failing to justify favouritism in last month’s Queen Mother Champion Chase.
The nine-year-old has never particularly enjoyed himself at Cheltenham and that proved the case once again, making a crushing mistake at five out. It wasn’t a bad run however and the fact that he was able to recover sufficiently to finish second was fairly remarkable, staying on well in the closing stages.
A three-time winner at this festival, including in this race 12 months ago, the extra trip should hole no fears and it would be a massive surprise should he not improve his perfect record at the Grand National meeting to four.
It certainly isn’t a gimme, as El Fabiolo would be a menacing opponent if running to form. The eight-year-old brushed Jonbon aside when the pair met in the 2023 Arkle Trophy, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since, with El Fabiolo pulled-up after a bad mistake in last year’s Champion Chase.
He didn’t lose an awful lot in defeat when second in a Grade 2 over this trip at Navan last month, though he’d need a lot more to take this and his stamina is questionable. With that in mind, it’s impossible to oppose Jonbon, who should seal a ninth top level success over fences.
🏇 Back Jonbon in the Melling Chase at 1.52 with SBK 🏇
Tip 4 – Mister Meggit in the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle
An intriguing renewal of the Sefton, which has thrown up a couple of big-priced winners in the last decade or so. Interestingly there’s very little Cheltenham form to consider this year, with the Albert Bartlett also ran Argento Bay being the only runner in the field at the festival.
The betting is wide open and the favourite at the time of writing is Califet En Vol, who’s won two of his three starts over hurdles to date. His sole defeat came when three lengths behind subsequent Turners Novices’ Hurdle winner The New Lion at Newbury over Christmas, form which doesn’t look at all shabby now. He got back on track when winning a Listed contest at Huntingdon last time out and he should be right there, with the extra distance likely to suit.
Each of Familiar Dreams, Battle Born Lad and Jacob’s Ladder are improving types who struck in Graded company last time and are respected, but it could be worth taking a chance on the hugely unexposed Mister Meggit.
The seven-year-old has run just four times to date but he has won three of his starts and had plenty of excuses for his sole defeat, stumbling on heels in the bumper here last year. He’s had just one start over hurdles so far but it was an impressive one, winning over two and a half miles here in November.
We haven’t seen him since, but he won very easily that day and the form has worked out reasonably well, with three of those in behind winning since. The vibes from the yard are very promising indeed – with comparison to Gold Cup hero Synchornised – and he looks worth chancing at around 4/1 with Tote to take this.
🏇 Bet on Mister Meggit in the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at 4/1 with Tote 🏇
Tip 5 – James Du Berlais in the Topham Chase
A wide-open renewal of the Topham Chase, which has produced 20-1 winners in each of the last two renewals. The race is the second of three to be run over the Grand National fences this week and Willie Mullins has the two market leaders at the time of writing in Blue Lord and James Du Berlais.
Both horses are owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede and this is new ground for the classy Blue Lord, who drops into handicap company for the first time. He hasn’t been at his best this year but he ran fairly well last time, finishing third in a Grade 1 contest at Ascot in February. There’s every chance that this assignment could freshen him up and he could well show his class from a competitive racing weight.
However, preference is for last year’s runner up James Du Berlais. He fell one length short in this race 12 months ago but that was a fine run, taking to the fences really well and just failing late on. Taking his chance off just a 1lb higher mark this year, he took a step back in the right direction at Leopardstown last time and may just peak in time for this.
🏇 Back James Du Berlais in the Topham Chase at 7/1 with bet365 🏇
Previous shocks at Ladies Day of Grand National
The Grand National has a habit for throwing up a shock or two over the years, though there aren’t quite as many to write about on Ladies Day.
With that being said, there was a fairly significant shock in the 2021 renewal of the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle, when a certain Ahoy Senor caused a 66/1 shock for Lucinda Russell. He would go on to become a Grade 1-winning chaser of course, winning the Mildmay here a year later.
The biggest source of surprises is generally the Topham Chase, the second race of the week to be run over the Grand National fences. It’s run over one lap of the National Course rather than two, but it is still a test and each of Ultragold (50/1), Eastlake (22/1), Bill Baxter (20/1) and Arizona Cardinal (20/1) have won at big prices in the last eight years.
Meanwhile, there was a minor surprise in the 2018 Melling Chase. Politologue was a top-class chaser in his own right – going on to win the Champion Chase in 2020 – but he was an 11/1 chance when turning over the 11/10 favourite Min by a neck for Paul Nicholls.
How to bet on day 2 at Grand National
The Grand National is a huge sporting event across the world and plenty of people will likely be placing a bet for the first time. If that applies to you, we’ve put together a quick guide below.
- Log into your betting account. If you don’t currently have one, you can find several suggestions on this page.
- Deposit funds into your account and navigate to the ‘horse racing’ section. Find the racing taking place at Aintree on Friday 4th April 2025.
- Pick a horse to bet on. You can either follow our Grand National predictions on day 2 or you can study the form yourself.
- Add your selection to the betslip by clicking on the odds next to their name and input your stake. Once you’re happy, click on ‘place bets’.
How to follow the action
The Grand National is a huge sporting event in the UK and you can follow all of the major action on ITV, who are showing six live races each day. Every single race will be screened live on Racing TV, while you can also follow the action on BBC Radio Five Live. If you are out and about, you can stream every race on your betting app, or you can pop into your local betting shop and watch all of the Grand National action there.
About the author
Craig Mahood
Craig Mahood is an expert in sports betting and online casinos and has worked with the company since 2020. He joined the Betting & Gaming team at The Sun in June 2022 and works closely with the leading bookmakers and online gaming companies to provide content on all areas of sports betting and gaming. He previously worked as a Digital Sports Reporter at the Scottish Sun, covering Scottish football with particular focus on Celtic and Rangers, As well as football, he has covered horse racing, boxing, darts, the Olympics and tennis for the Sun.
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