Trainer’s quest to win Grand National will go on for another year but seven-year-old is looking good for Friday’s raceNicky Henderson’s quest to win the Grand National will go on for another year at least after his remaining entry in this year’s race came out at the overnight stage on Thursday, but he will have high hopes of a seventh win over the National fences at the Festival meeting when Mister Coffey (4.05) goes to post for Friday’s Topham Trophy.This race has been a trickier puzzle for punters than the National in recent seasons, with no winning favourite since 2008, but Mister Coffey has obvious claims after a luckless run in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir at Cheltenham last month....
Last year’s runaway winner of the Betway Bowl can boost Paul Nicholls’ hope of another trainers’ title on ThursdayA strong renewal of the Grade One Betway Bowl is the feature event on the opening afternoon of the Grand National Festival, as two former winners – Clan Des Obeaux and Kemboy – take on the up-and-coming Protektorat, third home in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and Conflated, the surprise winner of the Irish Gold Cup in February.Eldorado Allen, third in the Ryanair at Cheltenham, is also a serious player as Colin Tizzard looks to add to Cue Card’s win in this race six years ago. Continue reading...
The lightly raced Tom Clover-trained gelding is an attractive bet for the first big race of the turf Flat season at DoncasterWilliam Haggas’s Mujtaba, the likely favourite for Saturday’s Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster, is a lightly-raced four-year-old with the potential to be a Group-class performer before too long, which is very much the profile of recent winners of this historic handicap.That list includes Haggas’s Addeybb, who landed three Group Ones after winning on Town Moor in 2018, but while Mujtaba has obvious claims for this year’s renewal, several of his opponents arrive with similar records. Continue reading...
The winner of this marathon prize was a big eyecatcher at Haydock last time and can record a repeat successThe 2021 running of the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter was one of the strongest renewals for many years and Time To Get Up, the winner, was expected to be a leading contender for next month’s Aintree National as a result.As it turned out, the entry rules scuppered his chances, as he had not made six starts over fences by the time the weights were set. Jonjo O’Neill’s nine-year-old is qualified for the 2023 National now, however, after an eye-catching run at Haydock in February when he travelled like the best horse in the field for much of the race. He...
Victory in the blue riband of chasing at the Cheltenham Festival would complete a full house of jump racing’s premier prizesMinella Indo and Rachael Blackmore go back a long way at Cheltenham. Three years ago almost to the day, he was her breakthrough Grade One winner, an unconsidered 50-1 shot in what turned out to be one of the strongest novice hurdles of recent years. Allaho and Lisnagar Oscar, in third and fifth, were Grade One winners themselves at future Festivals, and Blackmore too soon moved on to even better things.His Festival form figures are 1-2-1. He loves the track and thrives in the spring. And yet, for the second year running, when Minella Indo goes to post for the...