The second day of the Aintree meeting kicks off with the Mildmay Novices’ Chase and I think Gerri Colombe will get his rewards for a good effort at Cheltenham, he was unlucky not to win there really and ran a great race.
I think the mare of Dan Skelton’s, Galia Des Liteaux will follow him home. When you add in the allowance that she receives in this race, I think that makes her as good as anything else in the race, she looks to have a good chance, but the favourite will take all the beating.
Onto the next, which looks wide open, and I thought the Nicky Henderson trained No Ordinary Joe ran a stormer at Cheltenham. He’s gone up a little in the weights, but looks to have as good a chance as any.
Down at the bottom, Alan King’s horse Harbour Lake, he’s back off a mark of 132, he won off 130 earlier in the year so is back off a good mark here. He need a strongly run race which he should get here and has been waiting for some better ground, which he also gets, so at a big price he would have a chance too.
The novice hurdle at 2:55pm is another that looks wide open. Luccia is another with an allowance, I think she’s a speedy type. Cheltenham on dead soft ground last time found her out a bit, and she finished weak, whereas I think better ground on a flatter, speedier track should suit and she’ll take a good bit of beating, especially getting 7lb off her rivals.
At a massive price for each way players, I like the look of Hansard for Gary Moore. Write off his last run but before that, he looked an absolute aeroplane. He did a lot wrong in those two runs when he won, he was green but still looked impressive. At a massive price, he’s got a chance each way.
In the Melling Chase, I like last year’s winner Fakir D’oudairies, he comes to life at this time of year, he won this race last year and takes on the second again. Pic D’Orhy is the main danger but if Fakir D’oudairies is on his A-game then I just can’t see that horse beating him.
In the Topham Chase, the most interesting here for me is Ashtown Lad, who has course form and is trained by Dan Skelton. It seems to me that they’ve protected his mark over fences since he won the Becher Chase, as they’ve ran him twice over hurdles since then and I thought that was very interesting.
The Skelton’s know how to win these big handicaps, and the fact he’s ran twice over hurdles looks to me as though they’ve protected his mark for this, and they’re expecting a big run from him.
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In the 4:40pm, another that’s wide open. I’d be looking for horses that have not ran in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham, it’s always a race that takes a lot out of horses, so I’d want to be on something that either skipped Cheltenham or ran in something else.
Iroko won at Cheltenham, but given the price is probably not great value taking a big step up into a Grade One here.
At a price, I quite like Jonjo O’Neill’s horse, Saint Davy. This is going to have to step up incredibly, having only had one start over hurdles which he won, but Jonjo is not someone who would run a horse in a race like this unless he thought it had a reasonable chance.
You’re taking a punt here, it’s wide open, but I’d want something coming here fresh and he is.
The last race on the card is a conditional jockey race and a horse that ran in last season’s Supreme Novice Hurdle, and hasn’t been seen after that until winning recently is the Joe Tizzard trained JPR One.
I’m good friends with their stable jockey Brendan Powell and he thinks the world of this horse. He was hoping he’d be going to a race he could ride him, but doesn’t and comes here.
He holds him in high regard and if Brendan is anywhere near right with his thoughts on this horse then he should be on the right side of the handicapper off a mark of 131.
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