AINTREE, England – The Ladies Day promotion at the three-day Grand National meeting at Aintree Racecourse will be held on Friday.

On Thursday’s first day, a filly and a mare were the stars in two of the four Grade 1 races for hurdlers and chasers.

Brighterdaysahead, a 6-year-old mare, won the $331,000 Aintree Hurdle for the fifth Grade 1 win of her 16-race career. A few hours earlier, the filly Mange Tout won her Grade 1 debut in a $145,600 Juvenile Hurdle for 4-year-olds.

Both were ridden by Jack Kennedy for Irish-based trainer Gordon Elliott.

Sha Tin Selections
(Sunday, April 12, 2026)

The 9-year-old gelding Grey Dawning has won Grade 1 races in famous events at Cheltenham Racecourse and Haydock Park in Britain in the last two years.

Aintree Racecourse, north of Liverpool, has not been as productive of a venue.

Grey Dawning is winless in five career starts at Aintree, but has run well enough to merit support in Friday’s Grade 1 Melling Chase at 2 1/2 miles. The $335,500 Melling Chase is the leading race on the second of the three-day Grand National meeting.

The famous Grand National steeplechase will be run on Saturday.

By Leo Schlink

Completing a triumphant return to Hong Kong racing with a superb four-timer at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (8 April), Joao Moreira reunited with long-time ally Caspar Fownes in brilliant fashion as the battle for the 2025/26 trainers’ championship intensified.

Taking nine rides for Fownes, Moreira finished the evening with four wins and a second as Fownes erased Mark Newnham’s four-win lead in the championship to join the Australian horseman on 47 wins, and trail only by virtue of minor placings with 31 second placings to Newnham’s 36.

Happy Valley Selections
(Wednesday, April 08, 2026)

Paul Lally:
R1: 3-9-1-4
R2: 12-5-9-1
R3: 4-2-3-12
R4: 10-7-2-11
R5: 2-1-10-4
R6: 5-1-6-2
R7: 1-9-8-2
R8: 9-2-1-4
R9: 4-3-1-10

Best Bet: R7 N1 Silvery Breeze
Longshot: R4 N10 Winning Data
Play: R9 QQP 1-3-4

Tom Wood:
R1: 3-10-11-1
R2: 9-12-1-3
R3: 3-8-1-4
R4: 8-7-2-1
R5: 2-9-6-3
R6: 5-1-2-12
R7: 2-1-12-9
R8: 9-4-7-10
R9: 4-1-3-10

The four Grade 1 jump races at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on Thursday are second-chance opportunities at significant prizes for a prominent group of chasers and hurdlers beaten in similar races at the prestigious four-day Cheltenham Festival last month.

The Cheltenham Festival compares well in quality to the Breeders’ Cup in the United States, and the three-day Grand National meeting that begins Thursday at Aintree is another objective for top-class runners from Britain and Ireland in early spring.

By Leo Schlink

Zac Purton and David Hayes were left to scramble for adequate superlatives after Ka Ying Rising continued an imperious reign with a phenomenal display of speed and power to win the HK$5.35 million G2 Sprint Cup (1200m), notching a fourth Sha Tin track record with a record-extending 19th successive victory on Monday (6 April).