Horse Racing Tips: Mark Milligan with three to back at Aintree on Friday

Aintree Day 2 Superboost

The Willie Mullins-trained Gold Dancer has been well-backed for the Mildmay Novices' Chase at 14:20 and he's odds-on to finish in the top three on Friday.

The Betfair Sportsbook have super-boosted his price to 1/12.00 to finish in the top three places, and you can take advantage of Friday's Superboost by clicking on the odds below to go directly to the pre-loaded betslip.

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13:45 Aintree - Back Emid'io Pepe E/W @ 15/28.50

Emid'io Pepe comes into the opener at Aintree as an intriguing contender, making his British debut for Dan Skelton after a French career that yielded four victories (one of those on the flat).

The five-year-old has been kept fresh for this assignment, arriving 115 days after his most recent win at Pau in December, a race that hasn't worked out too badly.

Skelton's record in this race is notable, having won two of the last four renewals, and the decision to pitch a lightly-raced recruit straight into such a valuable contest suggests confidence from a superb target trainer.

In a race where most of the field hold few secrets from the handicapper, Emid'io Pepe's unexposed profile offers genuine appeal.

As you'd expect, there are plenty of threats in this 22-runner contest, but with six places available on the Sportsbook, I'm more than happy to put my trust in this one from an each-way perspective.

15:30 Aintree - Back Solness @ 12/113.00

There's obviously a strong case that Solness is better at 2m than further, but Aintree doesn't place the emphasis on stamina all that much and he looks the value play in the 2m 4f JCB Melling Chase.

Joseph O'Brien's chaser is top class on his day as he demonstrated when winning the Paddy's Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown for the second successive year over Christmas and he strikes as the type who could be tough to peg back if he gets into a good rhythm around this track.

On official ratings, Solness is the second-best horse in the race behind Heart Wood but is a much bigger price than that one, for all he does have those stamina issues to overcome.

Heart Wood will obviously be a tough nut to crack if running to the same level as he did at Cheltenham but he's short enough in the market now.

Grey Dawning also comes into the equation for the Skelton team but I'm happy to take a chance on Solness at his current price of 12/113.00 on the Sportsbook.

16:05 Aintree - Back Madara @ 7/24.50

Madara is on a sharp upward curve and, though his price is now on the cusp of acceptable, he looks sure to take all the beating in the Topham on the back of his demolition job at Cheltenham last time.

That success represented a career-best effort on Timeform ratings and Madra is a horse who has finally found his niche over fences after a somewhat inconsistent novice campaign.

Cheekpieces going back on at Prestbury Park appeared to be the key to that impressive performance and it's not inconceivable that the selection can go on to ply his trade higher than this level with time still on his side. The seven-year-old could well be a genuine contender in some of the top chases next season and with that in mind he surely needs to be taking advantage of a mark that still looks workable despite being hiked 10lb for his Plate win at Cheltenham.

The Irish challenge is typically strong as one would expect, and it could be a trio from that country who provide the biggest threat to Madara, with Willie Mullins' Gentleman De Mee fancied ahead of stablemate Ile Atlantique and Gavin Cromwell's Will The Wise.

Betfair is offering Bet £10 Get £10 on Racing Multis each day of the Aintree Grand National Festival, and the multi that makes the most appeal on Friday is an each-way double featuring the aforementioned Emid'io Pepe in the first and Zeus Power, who ran a cracker in the Turners at Cheltenham and looks sure to go well in the 16:40.

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