It’s nice to have good chances at the big Grand National meeting this week, and though the main aim of hitting 200 winners has not changed, having one or two at Aintree would be very satisfying.
I kick off the meeting aboard Gaelik Coast in the Red Rum Handicap Chase (4:40pm, Thu).I won this race with Double W’s in 2015 and Surf And Turf in 2017, and he wouldn’t be too dissimilar to those two. We tried him over further, thinking he needed a bit of a step up in trip, but what we think we’ve worked out is that he wants a strongly-run two miles, so this should be ideal. He ran in this last year as a novice and finished tenth, but he’s had a better prep this year.
He’s a fresher horse, having been saved back since late January, whereas last year he ran in March and that took the edge off him really. We’ve been working back form this all year and I think he’s got a very strong each-way chance.
Roc Of Dundee goes in the mares’ bumper (5:15pm).
She’s surprised us a bit to be honest.
She won on debut, then under a penalty at Ascot, and she seems to be improving with every run. As a result, we feel she deserves her place in the race and hopefully she runs another big one.
Peter [Kavanagh] rides Hell’s Bell’s, Donald’s [McCain] other runner. He rides her every day of the week at home, so knows her well, and I think he’s a jockey that’s on his way to having a very good season.
Mackenburg could be my best chance of the Meeting!
My best chance of the meeting could come on the Friday with Mackenburg in the Grade 3 Handicap Hurdle (1:45pm).
He’s snuck in at the bottom of the weights and is coming back to hurdles, where he’s rated 10lb lower than he is over fences. He’s in really good heart, has been running well since having his wind done and he’s got a very nice racing weight off 10st 8lbs.
We think he’s got a nice each-way chance at the very least.
You could say A Different Kind looks like he’s in at the deep end in the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase (2:20pm), but he’s done very little wrong this year.
He’s won two bumpers and three hurdles races, including beating a nice horse of Venetia’s [Williams] called Green Book who’s a single-figure price for the Grade 1 Grand Sefton. He’s got slicker and sharper with every run this season, and I genuinely think he could run into the first four.
On ratings he’s got a bit to find, but the likes of Jonbon and First Street both ran at Cheltenham and that might have left its mark. Most of the owners are based up north, so going to the Grand National festival is the priority for them. All the horses will have been perfectly prepped for it and we’ve been working back from these races all season.
Finally, I’ve got Mister Whitaker in the Topham (4:05pm). He’s a 10-year-old with plenty of experience, and strictly on the handicap he’s almost 20lbs lower than his top rating. The question is whether he’ll take to the National fences, but he’s a very careful jumper who hopefully won’t do anything silly, so I don’t see why not.
He’s got a nice racing weight and I’m looking forward to a good spin. He’s very wise in the sense that he knows how to look after himself over fences, so hopefully he’ll look after me too!
Leopardess to pounce in the Grand National?
In the Grand National (5:15pm, Sat) I’ll have a keen eye on Snow Leopardess, who I rode on her debut over fences and on her first win over the bigger obstacles at Haydock. She’s a lovely mare. She’s like a gelding she’s that big and strong.
If you go back to the race where I won on her at Haydock, she only got going in the last 100 yards and that was over 3m1f on soft ground. She also ran well over 3m6f in the National Hunt Chase, so while you never really know, there’s every hope she’ll get home.
To me, everything about her screamed stamina, that’s what she was all about. Charlie [Longsdon] has trained her and placed her really well, and by the sounds of it he’s already got the film deal signed too! She’s a grand mare, a very good jumper and she stays well, but you need luck.
I’m planning to be done with racing at Bangor, hopefully after a couple of winners, by 5:15pm and I’ll be tuning in on my iPad on the way home.
Her main dangers would have to be Any Second Now and Delta Work. Any Second Now has a good profile and was desperately unlucky last year, while Delta Work is a five-time Grade 1 winner that’s coming off the back of a brilliant win in the Cross Country, so those are the two for me.
It’s a National, though, and if you pick your way through the form you could make a case for the majority of them!
