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Day one of the Aintree Grand National festival is here and what a cracking day of racing we have to look forward to.
The weather has continued to take its toll and as a result we have a fair few withdrawals which is unfortunate. Unfortunate particularly from a betting point of few as the first three grade ones of the day are only offering two places with no each-way angle really on offer for punters.
The ground is already on the heavy side of things and with more forecast rain due over the next few days, finding horses who cope with testing conditions is surely a must.
I've had a look through Thursdays card and have picked out my selections which you'll find below.
Sir Gino 4/5 – 14:20 Aintree
It will be interesting to see how Nicky Hendersons horses get on after the Cheltenham disaster left us all in a feeling of disarray.
The price for Sir Gino is short.. I'm fully aware of that, but I'm here to pick the horses that I think will win and sometimes they come with short prices. After glancing through the entire card it could be a day for short priced winners, of course I could be wrong but many towards the head of the market hold very strong chances.
I found it hard to get away from Sir Gino. He was nothing short of impressive at Cheltenham in January when bolting up by ten lengths ahead of James Owens Burdett Road. He comes into this fresh after missing Cheltenham. He is a horse who will handle the testing ground conditions and if he wins tomorrow that would see him as the best juvenile hurdler around in my opinion.
I was tempted by Kalif Du Berlais at the prices and there is no doubting he is an interesting runner. He is currently unbeaten to date but to be honest he looks more of a chaser to me than anything else and given he had to seriously work to get up late on at Kempton I opted to stay away.
Gerri Colombe 13/8 – 14:55 Aintree
The Aintree Bowl looks a complete cracker on paper and is surely the main race on day.
There's plenty of different angles to look at this race. Both Gerri Colombe and Bravemansgame bring Gold Cup form to the table, Corbetts Cross is clearly a top class novice who is open to further improvement whilst Shishkin aims to recoup loses for trainer Nicky Henderson whos stable went into shut down mode during the Cheltenham festival.
I decided to go with my gut and stick with Gordon Elliott's Gerri Colombe. He isn't the greatest of prices but he brings arguably the strongest form to the table with his second placed effort behind Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
He was beaten three and a half lengths that day and that was by far a career best performance and if not for a few jumping errors he could of finished even closer to Galopin Des Champs on the day.
The quick turn around from the Cheltenham Gold Cup run doesn't put me off. As much as he goes well fresh, he does have form when being turned out again in quick succession.
I'd rather be with him than against him and If he turns up and performs like he did in the Gold Cup he will take all the beating.
Impaire Et Passe 6/4 – 15:30 Aintree
The last grade one of the day looks another tricky one to solve. I narrowed it down between the two Irish runners Impaire Et Passe and Bob Olinger before finally settling on Impaire Et Passe.
Bob Olinger has definitely turned a corner this season and has looked back to his old self. He landed two Grade 2's this season and then followed them efforts up with a second placed finish behind State Man in the Irish Champion Hurdle. Trainer Henry De Bromhead opted to avoid Cheltenham with Bob Olinger and this race has clearly been the main aim.
With that being said my selection Impaire Et Passe also didn't run at Cheltenham last month, with this contest also being the main aim. Impaire Et Passe was a brilliant novice hurdler last season and brings some nice form into this. He beat Gaelic Warrior by six and a half lengths last year in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham and then went on to win the Grade 1 Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in April last year by roughly seven to eight lengths.
He was unbeaten until the streak came to end on his first run this year where he was beaten by Teahupoo in the Hatton's Grace. The form of that race now looks pretty strong as Teahupoo has since landed the Stayers’ Hurdle. He then finished second to Stateman by three and a quarter lengths at Leopardstown in the grade one Mathesons before going on to finish third behind Stateman and Bob Olinger at the same track in the Irish Champion Hurdle. My selection was clearly not at his best last time out and I'm more than happy to draw a line through that previous effort and I'm hoping a two month break of the track will have freshened him back up to hopefully land his first grade one of the season.
1.45 IL Etait Temps
Better suited to flatter tracks and step up in trip should bring out improvement based on his win at the DRF when staying on strongly over 2m 1f to win the Irish Arkle.
Grey Dawning obviously the one to beat but horses than won lto are 0-23 in this race so I’m taking him on.
2.20 Nurburgring
Sir Gino is rated 145 and Kargese 141. Kargese gets 7lbs so should have the beating of SG on paper. Add in the Hendo form and current odds and SG is a bad bet imo. He can win all he likes at the price.
Nurburgring was given an awful ride in the Triumph but did stay on to claim 4th. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt as he only finished a nose behind Kargese when they met in Dec.
2.55 Gerri Colombe
Ran a cracker here last year after a hard race at Cheltenham so should be OK to repeat the task this year and will relish conditions.
3.30 Luccia ew
Although Hendo’s form is still poor Luccia ran a career best to finish just 3 1/2L behind State Man in the Champion Hurdle.
Of the 2 at the head of the market I’d fancy Impaire Et Passe to come out on top over this trip on this ground but at the odds I think they are both worth taking on and Hendo has won 4 of the last 6 runnings too.
4.40 Irish Blaze ew
Purely trend based pick.
9/11 carried between 10st 5lbs and 11st 1lb
9/11 aged 7-10
1/11 were favs 3/11 from top 3 in betting
11/11 rated 132 or higher.
BOL
Looked at Luccia myself DC,
Will handle conditions and on breeding should cope with the trip but given she isn’t proven over it I opted to stay safe.
I actually backed her last time out when I listened to an interview from NH who said she could run a big race. Had a bit of a nightmare though as when I went to collect the docket I had forgot to select the each way section ( School boy error ) placed at 33s and I walked away with my tail between my legs.
Even when you win the dreaded bookies still win!
Good luck tomorrow!
Fantastic stuff there love to read your thoughts. Best of luc
Nurburgring NR
Replace with Kargese
No time to scribble anything down. Bets today. Lario 1.33 T. 7/2. Diamonds For Luck 2/1 T half stake ( will let run if Lario wins, lay off if Lario loses.
Aintree Friday Dtsart Enos 10/ 1 ew . Few words on yesterday s blog for anyone interested. Best of luck with everyones bets for the week
One bet I’ve enjoyed doing over the years is a Grand National/ Masters double where I pick 3 or 4 golfers and horses and cross double them to try land the double.
I’ve yet to land the big one but I’ve come close on a number of occasions and playing ew will at least give you a return.
This year though I’m changing it and am putting all my eggs in 1 basket with regards to my golf selection and have gone for BROOKS KOEPKA as I think hes a very solid ew and just can’t see him out of the first 10.
The horses I’ve picked are
I AM MAXIMUS
I did put up this horse on here prior to his previous run at 25/1 and he is now 7/1 2nd fav.
If reading the experts views he’s being written off as his jumping can be an issue but he has never fallen or Unseated. I’m not sure how jockey bookings were decided but the fact Townend is onboard will do for me and he has stamina in abundance.
3 sires have sired 2 previous winners of the national, Authorised, Old Vic and Montelimar and IAM is by Authorised so breeding is also a plus.
DELTA WORK 33/1
Will thrive on conditions and comes here a fresh horse with the X Country being abandoned at Cheltenham.
Was 3rd 2 years ago and was going well last year before unsettling. Has been dropped 3lbs by the h’capper which will help but at 11 may find 1 or 2 too good.
ROI MAGE 66/1
Finished 7th last year having jumped impeccably, he never touched a twig. He’s 15lbs better off with Corach Rambler this time round. At 12 he may be passed his best but in a year where the bookies don’t think many will finish (10 or less finishers 6/4 b365) unless he gets hampered his jumping should assure he gets around again.
GALIA DES LITEAUX 25/1
The more rain the better for this one and I’m sure Dan Skelton will have him primed for the race. We seen how good a target trainer he is and I’m sure he also has a big eye on the trainers championship and winning this would be a huge help towards winning that.
Anyway they are my GN selections. I’ve gone for horses that will enjoy conditions and will stay the trip. It will be testing and it may be better suited to horses carrying less weight but I’ll stick to my guns with these.
BOL
There is nothing grand about the national anymore thanks to the animal rights hippies.
It’s shorter, the fences are easier, just 34 runners in the name of health and safety ffs.
And to just get in the race now means you have to have performed well at a very high level.
You won’t get hunters like grittar, Spartan missile etc running into places or even winning as hunters have no chance of even getting into the race.
Red rum wouldn’t have got a run due to his form outside the national.
And with just 5 of the reduced field coming from the UK I’ve got to say it doesn’t sit well with me as its been hijacked by the usual suspects over the Irish sea.
Personally I’d restrict the numbers of runners any one trainer can enter then more trainers would get a chance.
It’s been turned into a top class handicap chase and doesn’t have the mystique of the national as I knew it a few years ago.
Yes elvis fully agree
Morning All . Great racing to watch at Aintree but as always these big meetings are a punters nightmare. So just smaller stakes for me today.
TAUNTON
15.18. .Breaking Cover. .8/1 . .E/W
16.28. .Rockwiththetimes. .8/1. .E/W
AINTREE
14.20. .Kargese. .6/4.
15.30. .Bob Olinger. .9/4
16.05. .Time Leader. .8/1 . .E/W
16.40. .Sans Bruit. .5/1. .E/W
GL ALL
Aintree.
2-55 ahoy senior
5-2 top 3 finish NAP @hills 🏇.
9-1 ew extra 4 places
Well done elvis
Others
Ginnys Destiny
6-5 top 2 finish
4-1 win
80-20 stake
Kargese 6-4 win
Gerri colombe 9-4 win
Impaire et passe 7-5 win @betway
Il Eitat Temps romps in by 9L
Always nice to get the first one in 👍
Well done elvis with Ginny’s Destiny coming 2nd 👏
Well done with that easy winner D.C.. 🏇
Hope the whole meeting isn’t going to be like cheltenham with uk runners feeding off scraps…..
Small stake auteil stuff
2-40 Go fast du berlais 4-1.
3-50 royal moon 12-1 ew 4 places.
4-25 jumping Charlie NB 🏇
2-1 betting without japon and jet destruval @bet365
Lucky last 5-15 Aintree.
Nala the lioness
20-1 ew extra 8 places.
And a few pennies on
66-1 ew 5 places skybet
mahons glory 3.30 ew
rebel dawn rising 4.05 ew
3 from 3 and the treble lands.
Tomorrow’s tips will be up a tad later tonight due to other commitments so apologies in advance.
Well done all winners.
Nice going Crainzy 👌
Boooooooom Cairnzy nice 16-1 treble. Thank you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
mayhem mya 4.40 ew well done all winners today
Looking at the Foxhunters I knew they were reducing the height of the fences but I didn’t realise they would end up like hurdles. I could jump Beechers Brook.
It’s an absolute joke and such a shame for the famous race.
Hi
Aintree
R. 6 – Heltenham / Ew
R. 7 – Jubilee Alpha / Ew
Chelmsford
R. 6 – Daaris / Win
Later i send a Yankee , for tomorrow at Aintree
G. luck
Cairnzy …… well done : – )
Daaris , bad ride 2nd : – (
Aintree Day 2
Yankee / Each Way
R . 2 – Jango Baie
R . 3 – Dysart Enos
R . 6 – R. Tommy Wrong
R. 7 – Go Dante
G . luck !!
park princess 5.15 ew
barenboim 7.30
cubon melody 8.00