Aintree Day Three

Another great days sport with Master Minded taking centre stage,right back to his best and he looks a contender for King George honours next season.Big day tomorrow with all eyes on the National but lets not forget a super support card.

Race 1.Cant have Cue Card in any race at any price,flattened out at the Festival and didnt give me the impression that he was desperate for a step up in trip.SAM WINNER on the other hand will adore the extra 4f,stormed home over shorter in the Triumph and if hes close enough at the second last he will have a big say.

Race 2. A run anywhere near his Cheltenham effort will see FINIANS RAINBOW claim his grade 1.

Race 3.Lay Binocular til Hell freezes over,he isnt,never has been or never will be good enough to beat PEDDLERS CROSS.Second in what will turn out to be a vintage Champion Hurdle,everything is right for him here.Wont hear of defeat.

Race 4.Competitve renewal with many holding claims but ive been waiting for TAKE THE BREEZE to tackle 3m on a flat track with decent ground.Plenty of these ran at the Festival and some had hard races,he on the other hand comes here fairly fresh.Sound claims.

Race 5.To win this you have to jump accurately and economically,you have to travel,you have to see the trip out and you have to have the guts for a battle.Many fail on one or more of these criteria but one that ticks all the boxes to my mind is BIG FELLA THANKS.Will be ridden with a tad more restrain this year,the ground has dried up to perfection,his prep has gone like clockwork and i can assure you that connections are as hopeful as you can be in a race of this nature.Must go well.

Race 6.I look for hurdlers on this track that have a real change of gear in the closing stages and this is a horse that i pinpointed for this meeting an awful long time ago...VIA GALILEI.Everything is right for him,flat track,top of the ground,big field,strong pace.He missed the Festival to come here,get on!

Race 7.Bumper.......watch the Golf instead!

Good luck if you play

racingnut wrote:Race 7.Bumper.......watch the Golf instead!

Lol......you really don't like these bumpers do you racing?

Thanks for starting another thread, for day three, and giving us your thoughts.....it's very much appreciated : )

We've had some good chat on here today........will you be able to join us tomorrow?

Solerina

Yes.i'll grace you with my presence!!
No i dont like bumpers,i know that all youngsters have to learn to race and cope with all the hubbub that is racing but 99% of the time they descend into absolute farce because they go no gallop and turn it into a sprint.Rant over

racingnut wrote:Yes.i'll grace you with my presence!!

Oh good.......I'll look forward to it

Solerina

Hi folks, looking forward to tomorrow, looks a great days sport.

I fancy Ruby in the National, with my EW selection being Grand Slam Hero for Mr Twist

Agree with the Nut, Bumpers are only for watchin, not betting material.

Swanseadabber wrote:Agree with the Nut, Bumpers are only for watchin, not betting material.

Hi Swansea.....I hope you'll be joining us on here for the big race.

I'm off for the night now.....see you all tomorrow : )

Solerina

Good morning Sol, Nut and the gang, hope you's all have a successful day, hopefully be on here later but being pressured to go out for the day with her indoors & the anklebiter - we dont see much sun in Scotland so when it does come out it sparks a mass exodus to parks & beaches.
Not conjusive to a racing fans pleasures on a day such as this!

Swansea,you gotta put your foot down mate! Days out on National day,whats going on? Took the beloved shopping this morning at 7.30 and now the day is mine.Racing this afternoon and Masters tonight

im with you racingnut.

just in from the mornings shopping and now its sport all the way until midnight! one of the great days of the year.

good summary of the races too. I think you might be right about Take the Breeze. Just taken the 14/1 for it. The 2nd race is the puzzle for me.
With Starluck kept fresh for this by missing Cheltenham I think he is worth an each way bet at 13/2.

I think the ground has possibly gone against my fancy in the National - Silver by Nature but Im starting to think that if What a Friend has got enough left in the tank after Cheltenham he may be classy enough to win this. My outisders are Dooneys Gate and The Tother One.

With the big race in mind i went through the field and using my own criteria i tried to narrow it down.
CRITERIA;
1.Jumping ability,economical and accurate.
2.Ability to travel in the race.
3.Stamina.
4.Battle hardened.
5.Ground conditions.
6.Recent form.
7.Handicap rating.
I crossed out any horse that failed on two or more of the above.Shortlist i ended up with was;
Big Fella Thanks
Backstage
Silver By Nature
Chief Dan George
Quinz
State of Play
Dont know if this will help anyone but it wasted 45 minutes of my life!

Steveo,What a Friend has got enough class to contend in the best of staying chases but i just crossed him out because he has his own ideas and doesnt like a battle.If he came to the elbow upsides anything then im sure hed dog it better than Stan Collymore.Aintree aint no place for the caffy hearted.
The Tother one is a real enigma,if he puts it all in then he has a solid ew claim but his form is littered with jumping errors,not good for here.
Dooneys Gate might be one that slipped under the radar a bit,ran well in some decent events in Ireland last season and has been aimed at this all year .Yard know what it takes to win.

cheers for the advice racingnut.
I doubt whether What a Friend will be fresh enough for this anyway.
Yes The Tother One has jumping errors but he was 4th in the Hennessy so can't be that bad. I have just always followed him because he is a half brother to ThisThatandTother who I thought was a fantastic horse. I won loads when he won the Ryanair at the Festival a few years back.
Dooneys Gate I have to have each way at the price!

We can all put up our advice to others about whatever we see fit but heres the best bit of advice on National day......when you strike your bet take the price cos the SPs will be squeezed til their eyes pop.

Hi racing......I'm here! : )

Are you with us all afternoon?

Solerina

Solerina wrote:Hi racing......I'm here! : )

Are you with us all afternoon?

Solerina

Obviously not....lol

Solerina

What a wonderful day to spend in the sunshine, doing a bit of gardening or taking the kids out to the park .... yeah, right oh ..... I have decided that it's the perfect afternoon to volunteer to do the ironing which should take about as long as the racing is on this afternoon.
All todays bets have been placed, for what it's worth, my shortlist for the big one consists of the following -

Oscar Time (Backed a few weeks ago), State Of Play, Silver By Nature (seems to be very popular on here) and one that i think may have quietly slipped under the radar (a few of those been mentioned too) Vic Venturi.

Of the support races, I like Spirit Son in the first. I think Starluck with AP on board is the value in the 2.15, Peddlers Cross has to be the one against Binocular in the 2.50 simply because the 2 1/2 miles around Aintree suits the horse so much better and i think he is genuinely a better animal (wouldn't suprise me to see Celestial Halo run into second) and Tarablaze for Hobbs & Johnson has tons of ability and has impressed me sufficiently to get the nod in the 3.25.

Good Luck if you have a play this afternoon ... Enjoy the racing and let's hope they all come back safe and sound.

Grahame1971 wrote:

Good Luck if you have a play this afternoon ... Enjoy the racing and let's hope they all come back safe and sound.

Hi Grahame.....nice to see you on this lovely sunny afternoon.

Yes....lets hope they all come back safely........I have a love/hate relationship with this race......I'm starting to feel ill now with worry......I'm the same every year.

Agree about Vic Venturi........I love that horse......it would be wonderful to see him win a Grand National......he seems to have been around for years.

Can't wait to see Binocular.........he's going to win today! I've seen it it my crystal ball lol

The chatbox is open Grahame......have you ever used it?

Solerina

None of us picked Spirit Son in the tipping comp

Solerina

Ooh....I've forgotten to do my predictions for today's Aintree card.

Back soon

Solerina

hi solerina

busy day isnt it. im watching channel 4 now for a bit

I've missed the first race so here's the rest

2.15 Starluck
2.50 Binocular
3.25 Reve de Sivola
4.15 What a Friend
5.00 Ciceron

Hi steveo!!!

I'll have the beeb on all afternoon.
I do wish they'd stop playing that darn Champions theme all the time......makes me wanna cry everytime I hear it lol

Enjoy the afternoon's racing.......chat box is open......maybe I'll see you on there later for the big race,

Solerina

Good afternoon all

i see we are both siding with Starluck in this one

finians rainbow the one to beat though!

afternoon swansea!

Me and Swansea are up in the chat box......do come and join us

Solerina

I said i would join in,patience dear!!! Well i got the lays on Cue Card and Binocular right but Peddlers was very flat,was beaten a long way out.Never mind,he will have plenty to say next season

As is usual the National provided a visual spectacular.Most of the fancied ones where on the premises but it was Ballabriggs who prevailed as a worthy winner.He jumped for fun and got into that all important rhythm that you need around these big fences,when challenged he found more,which suprised me because i had him as a total non stayer after seeing him finishing punchdrunk in last seasons Kim Muir over 3m2.The first seven or eight all ran tremendous races,with special mention to Dont Push It for getting as close as he did with a welter burden,State of Play for running another brilliant race over these unique obstacles and have to mention the ride Graeme Lee gave Big Fella,if theres been a better creeping away National ride in the last ten years then i havent seen it,pity the horse just doesnt get the last three furlongs.Only blackspot on the day was the awfully public deaths of two gallant friends,Ornais and Dooneys Gate,thoughts are with them and all connections.
We all had our own ideas of the winner,i backed big Fella antepost but had a small saver on State of Play,no damage but it strikes you how once a horse takes to this place then it will come back and run a race year on year.Did we see next years winner in todays race? I'll stick my neck out and say that whilst he might not win it i reckon Skippers Brig will run a monster race next year,i just hope for softer ground.