One of the Grade 1 prizes available on Thursday, 3rd April at Aintee is the Grade 1 Aintree Bowl, and 12 runners have been given entries six days out from the race. Last year’s winner Gerri Colombe is absent, but the runner-up for the last two years, Ahoy Senor, is in the line-up as he looks to bounce back form his fall in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The contest has an open feel with both Inothewayurthinkin and Galopin Des Champs absent after their one-two in Cheltenham’s blue riband. Lucinda Russell’s charge is an Aintree specialist and may head the British charge, though it is Grey Dawning, who skipped Cheltenham altogether, who is the headline act for the home team.
Dan Skelton’s eight-year-old warmed up for this at Kelso just before the Festival, having been second earlier in the season in the Betfair Chase. This has long been the grey’s aim, while stablemate Protektorat is also in the mix; he was fourth most recently in his defence of the Ryanair Chase.
Willie Mullins has three entries for Ireland, with another Cheltenham absentee, Gaelic Warrior, the most promising of the trio. He will step up beyond 3m for the first time in his career if running here, as will the ten-year-old Blue Lord. Embassy Gardens is more of a known quantity as a stayer, having won at Tramore on New Year’s Day under the late Michael O’Sullivan.
The other significant Irish entrant is another big name in Spillane’s Tower. In the colours of JP McManus, he was a gallant second to Fact To File in the John Durkan Chase to begin the season before underwhelming as the King George favourite in December. He may also be given the option of the 2m4f Melling Chase on the Friday at Aintree.
Paul Nicholls has won four of the last ten renewals of this race and Stage Star, a former Grade 1 winner as a novice, could race here for him. He was second in the Cotswold Chase in January, while the only other Gold Cup runner beyond Ahoy Senor who is entered here is The Real Whacker, who was fifth at Cheltenham for Patrick Neville.
The field is completed by Venetia Williams’ Djelo, another for whom this 3m+ distance would be new, while the remaining pair are the veterans Conflated and Sam Brown.
Aintree Hurdle Runners 2025
| Number | Horse | Trainer |
| 1 | Ahoy Senor | Lucinda Russell |
| 2 | Blue Lord | Willie Mullins |
| 3 | Conflated | Gordon Elliott |
| 4 | Djelo | Venetia Williams |
| 5 | Embassy Gardens | Willie Mullins |
| 6 | Gaelic Warrior | Willie Mullins |
| 7 | Grey Dawning | Dan Skelton |
| 8 | Protektorat | Dan Skelton |
| 9 | Sam Brown | Anthony Honeyball |
| 10 | Spillane’s Tower | James Joseph Mangan |
| 11 | Stage Star | Paul Nicholls |
| 12 | The Real Whacker | Patrick Neville |