Aintree Festival 2025: Tanya Stevenson's Selections For Friday
Tanya Stevenson joins us once again to preview the very best racing action this week at the Aintree Festival.
Tanya has studied the form for Friday's second day of racing at Aintree, and has made two selections which can be backed with betting sites.
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Check out Dean Ryan and Diarmuid Nolan's video as they look ahead to the second day of the Aintree Festival.
Tanya Stevenson's Selections For Day 2 (Friday) At Aintree
Tanya Stevenson Panel Tip 1: Tripoli Flyer - Top Novice's Hurdle (14:55)
Tripoli Flyer was a non-runner on the morning of the Supreme, which was a bit of a shame as I thought he had a chance.
In hindsight, Kopek Des Machine, sorry, Des Bordes, was probably too good.
Still, that brings us to Aintree and a flat track that should surely suit Tripoli Flyer, who is still a big baby judging by his enthusiasm and overjumping, or preemptive jumping, at his hurdles.
Jonny Burke does well just to hold on, as Tripoli Flyer is so fast over his hurdles and even more so between them.
This could have Romeo Coolio off the bridle, as he tends to be steady and only powers after the last.
Musselburgh and Kempton will, I hope, prove to be good training grounds for Tripoli Flyer. He made a fair field, including Miami Magic, look pedestrian in the Dovecote Hurdle.
I respect that all the stats point to Romeo Coolio, but he was third in the Supreme, and this might be seen as an opportunity rather than the main aim.
Tripoli Flyer, on the other hand, looks a great fit for the track configuration and has improvement to come.
Tanya Stevenson Panel Tip 2: Escaria Ten - Topham Chase (16:40)
Aintree throws up all sorts of random results, and I'm hoping that applies to the Topham. I'm putting up a rare, left-field selection, partly in the hope of enhanced place terms.
Not long after declarations, he was made the outsider of the entire field, but by Thursday morning, his price had contracted to 33-1 with horse racing betting sites. I can’t be the only one thinking he can run a big race.
Escaria Ten went largely unheralded after the Cross Country race at the Festival. If people weren’t talking about Stumptown, it was the lack of sat-nav on Vanillier. That pair could fill the first two places in the Grand National - in fact, Gavin Cromwell could have the first three on Saturday. But I digress.
Back to Escaria Ten, who I thought ran a belter at the Festival from out of the handicap but just didn’t stay. James Best looked after him well, and now he’s back in the handicap, having been dropped 5lb for that run.
He had already shown his aptitude for the quirky cross country course when finishing only four lengths behind Stumptown in December.
In between, he went to Sandown and met the progressive O’Connell, conceding 11lb to that younger, up-and-coming rival.
Escaria Ten finished fourth, only beaten 12 lengths but once again, it may have been too far on heavy ground. He was once trained by Gordon Elliott and is now with Martin Keighley.
In 2022, when with Elliott, he lined up for the Grand National itself. It’s worth a watch, oh as he was still travelling after three out, but just started to fade approaching the second last.
Okay, it’s three years on, but his handicap mark was 152 then. It's 133 now, and he's back over a trip he can stay. He’ll be travelling well with a jockey on board who excels on front runners.
James Best is having his second-best season with 27 winners. His CV includes front-running wins on Nickel Back and My Silver Lining.
He nailed his second straight Grimthorpe with a dominant ride, and even better, he’s won two Becher Chases over the big spruce fences on Walk In The Mill.
I can still see the red and white chevrons crossing the Melling Road, then it’s down to lady luck. He’s a huge price, and with at least five places on offer, he might just snatch one of them.
Fergal O’Brien, by his standards, has had a quiet season. It’s normally a copy-and-paste century of winners. He’ll just fall short this time, but not for lack of effort.
These last two weeks have seen him crack on at a 30% strike rate, which is what he really wanted at Cheltenham.
Nevermind. There are plenty of Grade 1s to mop up at Aintree, and a good race or two at Ayr.
