Racing tips: Jamie Snowden’s recent hot form brings Soldier Of Destiny into play

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Saturday was a painful day with no winners. It was probably unlucky not to come away with one win with Rumi in France who was given a hold-up ride and that caused a lot of problems as she travelled through the race like the winner but didn't get the gaps required and that resulted in her finishing second. The majority of the other runners on the day were poor and had no excuses for them as they were either outclassed or jumping letting them down.

Aintree 2:05

I'm fairly certain that I tipped up MINELLACELEBRATION to win this race last year and he was poor, much worse than I anticipated but he comes back this year with the ground expected to be soft and off a 7lb lower mark, so is worth another chance.

He is a winner of this race back in 2020, and is deemed to be much better at this course than at the majority of venues he's raced at. The fact he won this race two years ago and they attempted to retain their crown in 2021 suggests they target this race, and when that's the case they have to be respected highly. I'm sure a lot of horses in this race would've been aimed at this race but they don't have as much going for them as Minellacelebration. Fitness will be an issue for many, especially as they are getting on in their careers, so winning first time out will be a big effort, but a Minellacelebration has often been very good first time out and often the right time to catch him, winning four times after an absence.

Going through the race I think Wishing And Hoping is one to keep an eye on as he won this race last year and is very good fresh, other than that nothing else looked that much of a threat but there has been some serious money for If The Cap Fits who is making his stable debut for new owners and they evidently seem very confident so that has to be noted.

Aintree 2:40

This race is a very strange one for the start of the jumps season as its a Grade 2 but it's a handicap so makes it a totally different ball game to your normal Grade 2's.

You have some classy horses in this like Hitman and Millers Bank, with the latter being a Grade 1 winner over today's C&D and Hitman running well in multiple Grade 1's and 2's so has to be respected. However, the one I think could spring a small upset is SOLDIER OF DESTINY for the in-form Jamie Snowden yard. Jamie has come out and said this race has been the target all summer long, and considering he is operating at a 43% SR in the last fourteen days with 6 wins it's hard to go against his word.

The form of Soldier Of Destiny rates better than what it looks on a first look. The win over Burrows Diamond looks good in my opinion, with the third Dreams Of Home winning on his next start, beating a good horse in Coach Carter, and he was convincingly beaten by SOD by 21 lengths when they met. Ubetya who was back in fourth, clearly didn't perform on the day, went on to win next time out and Nero Rock who unseated his rider in that race went on to win his next two races. Though that kind of form isn't on the same level as others in this race, it's still decent and when you consider SOD is running off a joint bottom weight of 10st 6lbs, he looks a good EW play to me.

This race will be a pipe-opener for a lot of these, so probably won't be 100% for this race, so the fact that Soldier Of Destiny has been targetted at it could be a deciding factor in terms of fitness.

I might put up another selection in the morning, but I'll watch the odds to see if it's worth putting up or not.

Going on from the above sentence I've decided to go for Walking Glass in the National race at Limerick. Unfortunately, I can't do a write-up as I'm out and about. Sorry for that, but I thought I'd put this quick little note up so people can see that there's an extra selection for today.

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