The 2026 Aintree Festival proved to be a really successful meeting for the Turf Talk Ratings and also the meeting that will help to fine tune the way we do things here.

This is not a new system. It is an evolving one that has been refined for more than 30 years, built around trends, race profiling, trainer and jockey analysis, form interpretation and identifying value.

Across all three days, the ratings consistently identified the strongest runners, producing a series of top-rated winners and big-priced successes.

This post is a full breakdown of how the ratings performed across the meeting, along with an important update on how we will be refining the Turf Talk approach going forward.

Day 1 set the tone immediately. The Turf Talk Ratings were incredibly strong, identifying multiple winners including a standout 14/1 success with Ryans Rocket.

Even where the top-rated did not win, the winner was still firmly highlighted within the ratings structure, showing the depth and consistency of the model.

Day 2 continued in much the same fashion, with the ratings again dominating the results.

What stood out here was the consistency. Winners were not just coming from the very top spot, but regularly from the top three rated runners, which is exactly how the model is designed to perform.

Day 3 delivered the standout moment of the entire meeting.

The Grand National winner I Am Maximus was rated clear top on the Turf Talk Ratings, reinforcing the strength of the model in the biggest race of them all.

This year’s Grand National highlighted something very important in how we present our analysis.

A number of followers mentioned that while they liked the extra detail in the previews and tables this year, they were less keen on having two separate boxes to take in on some of the major races.

That is fair, and the Grand National was the clearest example of why.

My own final three Grand National selections focused too heavily on the eliminator, and as a result I did not include the winner in my main three. That is a frustration of mine, because I Am Maximus was sitting there clear on the Turf Talk Ratings and, in truth, should never have been discounted in the way the split format made possible.

However, I know several of you used the Turf Talk Ratings over the eliminator in the Grand National, and that is great news.

He was:

• Top rated on the Turf Talk Ratings
• Exactly the right type on the overall race profile
• And ultimately the winner

So while the eliminator still has value as a support tool, the Grand National proved that the real strength sits in the full Turf Talk Ratings, where the trends, form, trainer and jockey angles and race conditions are all blended together properly.

This is exactly how the model is supposed to perform, and it is why the Turf Talk Ratings will now take centre stage more clearly going forward.

From this point forward, we will be simplifying the format.

Instead of using two separate tables, we will:

• Focus on one unified Turf Talk Ratings table
• Incorporate the trends directly into the ratings
• Place greater emphasis on stamina, profile and race conditions
• Ensure no runner is visually pushed aside due to rigid filtering

The goal is simple:
Make the analysis clearer, stronger and easier to follow.

The results from Aintree show that the core ratings model is still working extremely well.

This change will only improve it further.

We move on next to the Scottish Grand National, where this updated Turf Talk model will be applied in full.

The aim remains the same:
Identify the right type, rate them correctly, and find the best value in the race.

TOP 15 + KEY TREND SNAPSHOT

The rating is calculated using the full Turf Talk model. The columns below highlight key trends alongside trainer and jockey form.

✓ = positive | ✓✓ = strong | ✓✓✓ = excellent | ✗ = negative | ? = unproven