Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 | Tips, Odds & Predictions

Grade 1 races like the William Hill Aintree Handicap Hurdle, will take place on Friday 14th 14:20 GMT and is set to feature a stellar field of 59 runners. In this Aintree Handicap Hurdle racing guide, I’ll look at the very latest race odds, while appraising the most likely winners and providing some insightful wagering tips!

💯 Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 Betting Odds

Each contender will compete for a first prize of £42,202.59, while the top seven horses and their trainers will share a total prize fund of around £75,000 between them. The race is open to runners aged four and older, while the ante post Aintree Handicap Hurdle betting suggests that this years’ outing will be particularly difficult to call. It should also underpin a huge number of wagers and significant Grand National betting activity, making it an event to watch at this years’ Aintree Festival!

The 59-strong field for the Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 has now been confirmed, while most sportsbooks have also published their ante post odds. So, here’s a glimpse at the latest Aintree Handicap Hurdle betting odds and early frontrunners!

Runner
Camprond	8.00	8.50	9.00	10.00	7.50
Springwell Bay	11.00	10.00	9.00	9.00	10.00
Ivaldi	13.00	12.00	11.00	10.00	12.00
Imagine	13.00	12.00	11.00	11.00	12.00
Dargiannini	13.00	13.00	15.00	13.00	13.00
Kateira	13.00	13.00	13.00	11.00	13.00
Captain Conby	15.00	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00
Buddy One	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00
Fils D’Oudairies	13.00	13.00	15.00	13.00	13.00
Blenkinsop	13.00	13.00	15.00	15.00	13.00
Faivoir	13.00	13.00	13.00	12.00	13.00
Theatre Man	15.00	15.00	17.00	13.00	15.00
Playful Saint	13.00	13.00	17.00	13.00	13.00
JPR One	15.00	15.00	13.00	13.00	15.00
Santos Blue	13.00	13.00	13.00	11.00	12.00
Blow Your Wad	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00
Sonigino	17.00	17.00	17.00	15.00	17.00
Good Risk At All	17.00	15.00	13.00	17.00	15.00
No Ordinary Joe	11.00	11.00	17.00	11.00	11.00
Jungle Jack	15.00	15.00	17.00	15.00	15.00
Pikar	13.00	11.00	11.00	12.00	11.00
Hugos New Horse	17.00	17.00	17.00	15.00	17.00
Ukantango	21.00	21.00	21.00	21.00	21.00
Carnfunnock	21.00	17.00	17.00	15.00	17.00
Henrys Friend	17.00	17.00	21.00	17.00	17.00
Firm Footings	17.00	17.00	21.00	21.00	17.00
Moon Hunter	17.00	19.00	21.00	21.00	19.00
Harbour Lake	17.00	17.00	17.00	17.00	19.00
Fine Casting	17.00	19.00	21.00	21.00	19.00
Shes A Saint	17.00	19.00	15.00	15.00	19.00
Vina Ardanza	17.00	19.00	21.00	21.00	19.00
Boombawn	26.00	26.00	26.00	21.00	26.00
Will Carver	21.00	21.00	21.00	17.00	21.00
Sa Fureur	17.00	17.00	17.00	13.00	17.00
Gaoth Chuil	26.00	19.00	17.00	17.00	19.00
Benson	26.00	21.00	26.00	26.00	21.00
Pull Again Green	17.00	17.00	15.00	17.00	17.00
Fennor Cross	21.00	21.00	26.00	21.00	21.00
Tritonic	26.00	26.00	26.00	26.00	26.00
Irish Hill	26.00	23.00	21.00	17.00	23.00
A Different Kind	26.00	26.00	26.00	26.00	26.00
The Bosses Oscar	26.00	26.00	26.00	21.00	26.00
Martello Sky	21.00	26.00	26.00	26.00	26.00
West To The Bridge	34.00	26.00	26.00	26.00	26.00
Holmes St Georges	34.00	34.00	34.00	26.00	34.00
Collingham	34.00	34.00	34.00	34.00	34.00
Equus Dancer	21.00	21.00	21.00	17.00	21.00
Yorksea	26.00	34.00	34.00	21.00	34.00
Gipsey de Choisel	34.00	34.00	26.00	34.00	34.00
Molly Ollys Wishes	34.00	23.00	21.00	26.00	23.00
Starzov	34.00	41.00	51.00	51.00	41.00
Off Your Rocco	34.00	23.00	21.00	26.00	23.00
Gaelik Coast	51.00	51.00	51.00	51.00	51.00
Doctor Parnassus	51.00	51.00	51.00	51.00	51.00
Uncle Bert	34.00	34.00	51.00	34.00	34.00
Jason The Militant	67.00	51.00	51.00	67.00	51.00
Stony Man	67.00	51.00	51.00	67.00	51.00

⚡Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 Preview

Now that you’ve seen the Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 runners, the question that remains is which of these are most likely to win this Grade 1 race? I’ll make my final Aintree Handicap Hurdle predictions a little later in the guide, but let’s first take a look at the four ante post favourites and their recent form!

Springwell Bay

The early ante post prices have Springwell Bay as the joint favourite to win the Aintree Handicap Hurdle, and you can currently back this runner to win at around 8/1. He’ll certainly enter the race in outstanding form, with the six-year-old having won three of his last four hurdle outings dating back to October 2022.

This sequence saw the Jonjo O’Neill-trained gelding edge the Novices’ Hurdle at Wetherby on March 21st, while he prevailed by a whopping nine-and-a-half lengths in the Class 2 Ascot Racecourse Supports Schools Poetry Competition Novices' Hurdle in February. Both of these wins came over two miles and three-and-a-half furlongs, so he has proven ability over the relevant distance and in good-to-soft going.

Overall, Springwell Bay has won three of his four hurdle career outings, while he placed third the other race at Cheltenham last November. As a result, he appears competitively priced at 8/1 to win the William Hill Aintree Handicap Hurdle, and offers significant value either as an outright or each way pick.

Camprond

Camprond is also priced at around 8/1 to win this years’ Aintree Handicap Hurdle, despite a career record of just five wins and 11 top three finishes in 17 outings. More recently, he has only achieved one top three finish in his last six outings dating back to November last year, although this did come in his last hurdle outing at Cheltenham in March.

Competing in the stellar and often unpredictable Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle, Camprond started at a price of 11/1, but performed admirably over the two-mile, five-furlong course to edge into the lead with two jumps to go. Although he was subsequently beaten by just ½ a length by Langer Dan, he proved his worth among Grade 1 company and appeared to hit form just in time for the Aintree Handicap Hurdle.

Trainers Philip Hobbs and Johnson White are definitely confident that the seven-year-old will compete, and he undoubtedly offers value as an each-way bet at the very least.

Ivaldi

Next up is Ivaldi, with this five-year-old runner priced at an average of 10/1 to prevail in the William Hill Aintree Handicap Hurdle. The ante post Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 betting has Ivaldi as third favourite, thanks in part to his impressive showing at Ascot at the beginning of April.

Here, Ivaldi performed superbly to win the Class 3 Ascot Shop Handicap Hurdle, prevailing by a whooping 9½ lengths from the talented Espoir De Romay. Even though the Paul Nicholls-trained Ivaldi was the ante post favourite here at a price of 7/2, few pundits expected him to win by such a large margin. This was his second career win and third top-three finish in seven hurdle outings to date, so Ivaldi will arrive at Aintree in good form and having proven his ability over a challenging two-mile, five-furlong course.

Once again, he definitely offers value as an each-way bet, although backing him to win outright is undoubtedly more of a risk given his previous fifth and fourth place finishes at Ascot and Kempton respectively.

Imagine

I’ll close with Gordon Elliott’s six-year-old gelding Imagine, who arguably offers the ultimate value as an each-way betting option ahead of the Aintree Handicap Hurdle. To this end, he has achieved four top two finishes in five hurdle outings to date, with this sequence including three successive second place finishes at Novan (twice) and Gowran Park between last November and February 2023.

Prior to this, Imagine claimed his maiden National Hunt win in the Wexford Racing Club Maiden Hurdle at Wexford in October 2022, edging Spillane’s Tower by a head over a distance of 2½ miles in heavy going.

Most recently, the runner also performed well in the Class 2 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, once again against some high-quality competition.

Despite finishing fifth, he was competitive throughout in a talented and packed field of 21 runners, while he was only beaten by a mere five lengths in an incredibly tight finish. This race is run over the same distance as the Aintree Handicap Hurdle too, so Imagine is definitely competitively priced at average odds of 10/1 at the weekend.

⭐ Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 Betting Tips

Now it’s time for some Aintree Handicap Hurdle betting tips, which can help you to place more informed wagers and help you to get the absolute most out of your bankroll. Here are some points to keep in mind!

Place Your Ante Post Bets As Soon As Possible

As we can see from the early ante post prices at the beginning of this Aintree Handicap Hurdle preview, even the most fancied runners have odds of around 8/1. This is a genuinely competitive price, but such odds are likely to drift and then shorten once sportsbooks begin to receive an influx of wagers.

The reason for this is simple; as bookies look to offset their potential losses in instances where punters wager prolifically on a particular horse. So, I’d expect the odds associated with Camprond and Springwell Bay to shorten in the coming days, with these two runners likely to emerge as the clear favourites during this time. As a result, I’d recommend that you bet early and make the most of generous ante post prices, whether you’re placing outright or each-way wagers!

Bet on More Than One Outcome

The best Aintree Handicap Hurdle betting sites tend to offer a broad range of markets and wager types, enabling you to place multiple bets on the same race. This is to be recommended, as it enables you to split your stake amount between a higher number of outcomes and minimise your risk of loss incrementally.

For example, let’s say that you wanted to wager €5 in total on the 2023 Aintree Handicap Hurdle. Instead of putting this money on a single runner to win, you should consider betting €2 on an outright winner and splitting another $2 across each-way wagers that will help you to recoup some of your bankroll if you’re selected runners place in the top three or four. With the remaining €1, you may want to take a punt on a genuine outside (such as Stony Man a 100/1), or place a quinella bet on which two runners will finish in the top two (in no particular order).

Use Free Bet Offers to Your Advantage

Before you place your wagers and deploy your bankroll, you should also check out the latest Aintree Handicap Hurdle betting offers. I’ll go on to list some of the best such offers in the next section of this preview, but there’s no doubt that promotional bonuses can boost your bankroll and help you to place additional bets.

The most common offer structure rewards you with one or more free bets, when you place a qualifying wager up to a specified value (usually with minimum odds requirements in place). Then there’s the 100% deposit match, which will match your first deposit up to a specified value and are usually subject to wagering requirements.

Obviously, such bonuses can translate into potentially rewarding free bets on the 2023 Aintree Handicap Hurdle. However, there are other bonus types and features that may enhance your wagering experience, while these are usually available to both new and existing players.

Take price and ‘acca’ boosts, for example, which provide you with enhanced prices on specific races and betting markets. You can also access ‘Extra Place’ promotions through operators like Ladbrokes, which pay out an additional place when you execute each-way bets and increase your chances of recouping at least some of your stake!

🏆 Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023 Favorites to Win

As the ante post odds showcase, there’s currently no obvious favourite ahead of the Aintree Handicap Hurdle. This makes any Aintree Handicap Hurdle winner prediction challenging, but there are at least two or three runners who will fancy their chances of winning this Grade 1 showdown.

Arguably, the standout runner here is Springwell Bay, who’s currently priced at 8/1 and is in the best form of any Aintree Handicap Hurdle competitor. In fact, the Jonjo O’Neill gelding has won three of his last four hurdle races, including a stellar performance as he romped home by more than nine lengths in the Class 2 Ascot Racecourse Supports Schools Poetry Competition Novices' Hurdle less than two months ago.

I think there’s less value to be found in back Camprond at the same price, as despite his impressive showing at the Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham in March (where he finished third), his recent form remains inconsistent and he’ll face genuinely stiff competition at Aintree.

Two alternative contenders are Ivaldi and Imagine, the former of which won his last outing impressively at Ascot at the beginning of the month. The latter has also achieved four top-two finishes in his five career hurdle outings to date, so he represents excellent value as an each-way bet and may well push Springwell Bay to his limits at Aintree.

Ultimately, I’m backing Springwell Bay to edge his rivals and win the 2023 Aintree Handicap Hurdle, with Ivaldi and Imagine providing a serious challenge for first place!

🎁 The Best Free Bets Offers for Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023

Before you head online and place your Aintree Handicap Hurdle wagers, I’d recommend that you first check out the very latest free bets promotions from Betinireland’s market leading operators. You’ll find six such offers referenced in the table below, while you can click through each one to read the individual T&Cs.

Betting Site	Offer	Claim
	Get €20 in free bets when you wager €5	Get Offer
	Get up to €30 in free bets	Get Offer
	Get up to €100 in matched bets	Get Offer
	Bet €10 and earn €40 in free bets
	Bet €10 and get €40 in Free Bets	Get Offer
	Bet €10 and earn €30 in Free Bets	Get Offer

❓ Frequently Asked Questions About the Aintree Handicap Hurdle 2023

Let’s bring the guide to a close by answering a few of your frequently asked questions! This will hopefully help to summarise the content above and fill in any remaining gaps in knowledge that you may have.

✒️ Lewis Humphries iGaming and Sports Betting Expert

Lewis Humphries is an experienced sportswriter and tipster from the UK. He writes regularly about the horse racing and key events from across the UK and Ireland, including the Irish Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Aintree Grand National. He’s also providing extensive coverage and predictions for the 2023 Easter Festival at Fairyhouse.