After Bel Ombre won with a 10p rule 4 attached to his name, it meant we walked away with a small loss on Thursday.
It became a three-runner race, and he made light work of the remaining horses that turned up. He's progressing nicely over fences, and will probably win a couple of more races before the handicapper catches him.
As for Klic Boum, he didn't jump great throughout, and despite the yard and jockey being a dodgy pair, I didn't think he was going to win at any stage. I didn't watch the race when it was live, but Cairnzy messaged me to say that he traded 1/5 in play, which seems ridiculous, as he never looked that threatening, in my opinion.
Mirabad 11/8 – Aintree 3.00
We're not getting crazy odds on Mirabad, but I think he wins this race, and I think he wins it with a bit to spare.
I didn't give him much of a chance at Carlisle two weeks ago when running over hurdles in a Listed race, but he proved me wrong by only losing by three-quarters of a length. That was his first start since April, and if that's anything to go by, he will be a tough nut to crack on his return to fences.
Mirabad caused a huge shock in the Grade 1 over today's course and distance during the Grand National meeting, winning at odds of 50/1. He ran to a rating of 160 that day according to the Racing Post, and it's hard to argue against it. He won by six lengths, beating some very smart two-mile chasers, and I think it's safe to say that this track suits his style.
This doesn't look like a very strong race, and I only deem JPR One as a threat. The Tizzard horse won two weeks ago and is a solid horse, but I think Mirabad is still on the rise and gets 6lbs from JPR One.
Here Comes Georgie 5/2 – Aintree 3.35
It was nice to see my assumption on Here Comes Georgie was correct when he was a winner at Cheltenham when tipped up last time out.
I thought that the step up in trip on his first start for Dan Skelton was going to work wonders, and it clearly worked well. He takes another step up in grade; this time he's into a Class 1 race, but I think there's more to come.
The handicapper has slapped him with a 7lb rise in the weights, which makes things tougher, but I think Aintree will be better for him than Cheltenham. The Aintree run-in when they turn for home is a very long straight, and that allows strong travellers like Here Comes Georgie to stay on the bridle for a much longer time.
At Cheltenham, he raced from the rear, and Harry Skelton slowly brought him into contention, but the run-in isn't as long as Aintree, and he had to commit sooner than I think he would have wanted, just in case the horse made a blunder. I still believe he's ahead of the handicapper, and he gets in this off a nice racing weight of 10st 6lbs.
GambleAware