ES COVERAGE
2019-04-04T07:54:32.200ZHello and welcome to the Evening Standard's live coverage of the 2019 Grand National Festival at Aintree.
2019-04-04T08:24:19.583ZSo a jam packed day ahead of us as the Grand National Festival gets underway at Aintree with a superb card of seven races, including four Grade One contests.
Before that though, we'll have the final declarations for Saturday's main event.
2019-04-04T08:29:55.656ZAccording to Andrew Smith, on Twitter, 65 of the 68 runners who were still entered at the last declaration stage have declared this morning.
Still time for the other three to join them, but the maximum field is 40 runners, so there are going to be plenty of disappointed connections in half an hour.
2019-04-04T08:37:48.510ZOnce we've had those declarations, we'll being building up to today's races, as well as taking a closer look at some of the leading Grand National contenders.
2019-04-04T08:40:36.876ZGoing update
The clerk of the course at Aintree Racecourse, Andrew Tulloch, has just been on ITV's Opening Show reporting that the going is currently good-to-soft.
2019-04-04T09:06:28.430ZIt sounds like every horse bar one has declared, but we don't yet know who the horse is that has been scratched.
Joe Farrell is the horse who currently just misses out, so would step in if the scratched horse was inside the top 40.
2019-04-04T09:16:58.446ZRebecca Curtis has just tweeted to say that Joe Farrell, subject of a big gamble in the last few days, is IN.
We'll let you know who has dropped out shortly.
2019-04-04T09:26:51.996ZStill no word on which horse has been scratched at this stage, but brilliant news for connections of Joe Farrell.
He's been absolutely pumped in in the betting, around 16/1 with Betfair at the moment, from 50s and bigger.
BREAKING NEWS
2019-04-04T09:28:48.980ZPairofbrowneyes is the non-runner.
2019-04-04T09:30:23.076ZGrand National final field
There'll naturally be plenty of disappointed connections among those to miss out.
Milansbar, who finished fifth under Bryony Frost last year, Baie Des Iles, who was running a cracker behind Jury Duty at Down Royal last time out before falling, and The Young Master, who was third in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham, are among those to have gone.
2019-04-04T09:57:35.860ZThe good news, of course, is that all the major players at the head of the market look good to go.
Anibale Fly will carry top weight, off the back of a second-place finish in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month, while Vintage Clouds is also in the mix having run a cracker at the same meeting for second in the Ultima.
The likes of Rathvinden and Mall Dini bypassed Cheltenham to come straight here and will be prominent.
And then, of course, there's the Tiger.
2019-04-04T10:16:09.400ZRight then, let's take a look at the first race of the meeting, which goes off at 1:45pm this afternoon.
Manifesto Novices' Chase (Grade One)
The field is headed by perhaps the outstanding novice chaser of the season, La Bague Au Roi. Connections made the brave call to sidestep Cheltenham in the belief that the track wouldn't suit, but her form from Christmastime, beating the RSA first and second at Kempton, is as good as anything in the book.
Glen Forsa and Kalashnikov both unseated in the Arkle at Cheltenham, and have much to prove here, while Mengli Khan's run in the JLT was certainly a season's best effort but consistency has always been his problem.
Bags Groove has enjoyed a fine season, but this is a real step up in class.
2019-04-04T10:35:07.206ZGrand National reserves
The four horses who will be on standby for a run in the Grand National, should anything drop out are Just A Par, The Young Master, Isleofhopendreams and Exitas.
2019-04-04T11:03:08.220Z2:20pm - Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle
Even at this late stage of the season, the pieces of the puzzle haven't really come together in the juvenile division.
Pentland Hills was the surprise Triumph winner at Cheltenham but this will be a third race in very quick succession, and he looks short for a horse that went off 20/1 the last day and beat a fairly average field, albeit convincingly.
That leaves the two Joseph O'Brien horses at the top end of the market. Band Of Outlaws, who I fancy might have won the Triumph, is the shorter of the two off a very good victory in the Fred Winter at Cheltenham, but I'd rather side with Fakir Doudairies at the prices here.
The yard clearly rated him as the better horse earlier in the season, running him against older horses in the Supreme at Cheltenham, and though he was a distant fourth in that race, this will be a very different contest to the chaos of the Festival opener.
BREAKING NEWS
2019-04-04T11:07:27.890ZMost of the jockey bookings had already been finalised for the Grand National, but, predictably, Willie Mullins was yet to show his hand.
We've just had confirmation that Ruby Walsh rides Rathvinden, with Paul Townend on Pleasant Company and Danny Mullins on Up For Review. David Mullins gets the ride on Livelaughlove.
2019-04-04T11:31:29.876Z14:50pm – Betway Bowl Chase
This looks a really cracking renewal of this race. I'm a little surprised that Clan Des Obeaux wasn't put away for the season after the Gold Cup, and think this could be a race too far at the end of an excellent campaign.
Kemboy has looked an improving horse all year, but his early exit in the Gold Cup means we haven't seen him replicate the form he showed at Christmas, so he looks a little short.
Bristol De Mai is the one I'd be with. He's beaten Clan Des Obeaux twice this season, including when running a cracker in the Gold Cup, and was second in this race to Might Bite last year.
My one concern is that Nigel Twiston-Davies was very keen on running him in the National at one stage, so the fact that he comes here instead suggests perhaps he hasn't come out of Cheltenham as well as they hoped. There again, I don't see why they'd be running him at all if he wasn't in excellent nick.
2019-04-04T11:55:10.633Z15:25pm – Aintree Hurdle
It's ultimately been a pretty disappointing season for Buveur D'Air, losing his unbeaten run over hurdles at Christmas and then falling in the Champion Hurdle. There again, given the disappointments of Apples Jade and Laurina in that race, I wonder whether he would have got the credit he deserves even if he had won a third straight title.
You'd like to think he'll go a little way to repairing a perhaps unfairly damaged reputation here, against the likes of Melon (trip a question mark) and Faugheen (inarguably on the decline).
From those at a longer price, Ch'tibello looks an interesting each-way angle, stepping up to grade one company after winning the County Hurdle at Cheltenham.
ODDS
2019-04-04T12:04:08.943ZRight then, it's one o'clock which means we're just 45 minutes out from the start of this year's Grand National meeting.
A few market movers following declarations for the big one on Saturday already, most notably Rathvinden, who is in to single figures at 8/1 second fav since Ruby Walsh was jocked up.
2019-04-04T12:17:08.386ZAintree have issued a going update, and despite the rain that is currently falling, both the Mildmay and Hurdle courses are good to soft, good in places.
The National course remains good to soft.