Grand National Festival Tips: Kevin Blake has three selections for Day 1 of Aintree from 5/2 to 6/1

• Kevin Blake has three tips on the opening day of the Grand National Festival

• Check out our Aintree Grand National Hub

• Read Katie Midwinter's runner-by-runner guide to the National

• Read Dan Fitch's Unmissable Guide to the Grand National

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Timeform Superboost

Nicky Henderson's Jango Baie won the Grade 1 Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last month, continuing his streak of never finishing outside of the top three in his career (eight starts), and on Thursday you can back him at the super-boosted price of 1/12.00 (from 2/51.40) to finish in the top three in the 13:45 at Aintree.

To take advantage of this superboost just click on the odds in the below bet banner to go directly to the preloaded betslip.

*Please Note. This superboost is provided by the Betfair Sportsbook and not by any of our tipsters or writers.

Watch Racing... Only Bettor Day 1 Aintree Tips!

The Aintree Grand National meeting is upon us. The main event itself remains a hot topic of conversation, and the new version of the race will no doubt continue to split opinion amongst committed followers of the sport, but for now we'll focus on the action at Aintree on Thursday.

In general, the Aintree Grand National meeting isn't the most straightforward to work out, particularly for favourite backers.

It is usually expected to bring together those that showed strong form at the Cheltenham Festival and are backing up relatively quickly against those that skipped Cheltenham to retain their freshness for Aintree. How best to weight the freshness factor in each individual is the challenge, as there are endless examples of Cheltenham Festival form being turned on its head at Aintree.

Manifesto Novices' Chase, 13:45, Aintree - Back Gidleigh Park @ 5/16.00

The first race of interest is the EBC Group Manifesto Novices' Chase (13:45) and it poses a classic Aintree conundrum with the Nicky Henderson-trained Jango Baie backing up relatively quickly after somehow winning the Arkle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival.

Having only been parachuted into the race after stable mate Sir Gino was ruled out, it looked an ill-advised decision when he was badly outpaced from the fourth-last fence, but as those in front of him faltered, he charged up the run-in to seize a very unlikely victory by ¾-length.

The widespread view is likely to be that he'll be significantly better over this mid-range trip, but I'm cautious about his prospects. While his victory at Cheltenham was visually spectacular, it is very much open to question how much he achieved on paper given that Majborough threw it away via poor jumping. That combined with the relatively fast return to action makes him easy to oppose at his price.

The one I like against him is one that arrives here fresh having skipped the Cheltenham Festival, the Harry Fry-trained Gidleigh Park. A Grade 2-winning novice hurdler, he had a disastrous chasing debut at Kempton in November as he was pulled up early with an irregular heartbeat.

Freshened up, he returned to the track for what was effectively his chasing debut in a Grade 2 novice chase at Windsor and produced an excellent performance, getting the better of subsequent Cheltenham Festival winner Caldwell Potter. His form over hurdles suggests that this longer trip will suit him. The market seems to be disrespecting him at present and he looked overpriced.

4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle, 14:20, Aintree - Back Puturhandstogether @ 5/23.50

The Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle (14:20) was turned on its head at the declaration stage with the top three in the market Lulamba, Hello Neighbour and Lady Vega Allen all failing to appear in the final field. Remarkably, only two of those that ran in the 17-runner Triumph Hurdle line up here and neither of them finished in the first 10 home.

In amongst a depleted field, the Joseph O'Brien-trained Puturhandstogether might well be able to make a winning transition to Grade 1 company.

The son of Caravaggio improved out of all recognition when encountering a sounder surface in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, winning with a great amount of ease by six lengths. The handicapper had his say by whopping him up no less than 17lb, which must be close to a record rise for the winner of a handicap at the Cheltenham Festival.

Mind, when one watches back the closing stages, it is easy to see where that strength of view comes from. The ground will be in his favour once again and he finds himself as the highest-rated runner in this field off his revised rating.

The hope is that the pace will be solid, as they went hard in the Fred Winter, yet Puturhandstogether was still plenty strong in cover, so the faster the gallop the easier it will make Mark Walsh's job to settle him. He looks to have a very good chance.

Bowl Chase, 14:55, Aintree - Back Ahoy Senor @ 6/17.00

The final race of interest is the Brooklands Golden Miller Chronograph Bowl Chase (14:55). This has attracted a very eclectic and interesting field, but many of the main contenders have serious doubts attached to them.

Djelo ran terribly on his latest start. Gaelic Warrior hasn't looked himself all season and isn't sure to enjoy this much longer trip around this left-handed track. Spillane's Tower has been campaigned very sparingly for one that thrived on a busy schedule last season, so will he be cherry ripe on his first run since Christmas? Grey Dawning has been kept fresh for this, but is his form really worth that much?

All told, in a sea of madness, I've come down on the side of the funniest fish in the ocean, the Lucinda Russell-trained Ahoy Senor.

I know, he's erratic. To say the least. However, the one piece of consistency that you will find in the mad life of Ahoy Senor is that he loves Aintree. He has run there six times, and those form figures read 113223, with four of those runs coming in Grade 1s (including both wins) and the other two coming in Grade 2s. He has finished a close second in the last two renewals of this race to Shishkin and Gerri Colombe.

Whatever it is, he just loves this place. When he gets to Liverpool, the red mist that shrouds his everyday existence seems to lift and he channels all of his innate talent in the right direction. Let's hope that proves to be the case again on Thursday, as he looks overpriced.

Now read more Aintree Grand National Festival tips and previews here