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Swing Bill seems to be getting a lot more respect than he did in the National. Exchange prices floated for him were around 300.0 and he actually managed to finish the race – one of the relative few to do so this year.
Connections obviously think he's capable of running well and acquitting himself properly in this one and his 16/1 price will probably drift up a bit unless he makes a genuinely nice pre-race appearance.
Tullamore Dew is in the mix for this one as well and he looks to be firmly planted in each-way territory, trading at a relatively solid 25/1. Despite not much success in the past year or so he remains towards the top end of...
We've got a cracking field of 20, many coming directly out of the Grand National at Aintree, to tackle the latest iteration of the Bet365 Gold Cup. The longer distance chase isn't quite the testing encounter that the National is but it remains a serious kingmaker with a hefty purse up for grabs at the business-end of the season.
A number of talented contenders are set to contest this one with Tidal Bay going in as the top weight, representing the Paul Nicholls yard. Winless this season, the eleven-year-old son of Flemensfirth faces a tricky handicap here but will be under the confident guidance of Daryl Jacob.
The 6:05 is a bumper race with some extremely lightly-raced four and five-year-olds. This one is really anyone's guess so it's probably one to watch for some last minute price drops. First To Boogie somehow fell in his last race and I'm not even sure he was actually going over obstacles. Either way, he took plenty of money to go off as the 2/1 favourite against a field of nine.
Willy Mullins will saddle Goldboy while Henry De Bromhead has Zane Grey lining up in this one and he was brought down on debut when taking a spin at Kilworth last month.
The Grade 1 Growise Champion Novice Chase sees Sir Des Champs boasting a tremendous...
The third race is the 4:55 and it's a handicap hurdle going 2m over the going, which should still be rated soft at this point. The field for this one has just been clipped down to 28, which is still lengthy but far from the 48 runners who were still in the mix yesterday before the most recent withdrawal stage. People who follow the Irish National Hunt closely will be able to make a bit more sense of this one but there are a number of beaten favourites coming into this one.
The highest-weighted is Citizenship, who was last seen finishing well-beaten in the Vincent O'Brien at Cheltenham. Prior to that he had looked quite good at Leopardstown, capturing a score in late January and finishing a close second two days after Christmas.
The Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes is up next and we've got nine contenders going 7f in a quality race for three-year-old fillies. Richard Hannon's multiple Group 2 winner Best Terms is a fair bit ahead from a rating's perspective, with just the solitary blemish coming during her seasonal bow at Newmarket in the Group 1 Cheveley Stakes. Expect her to get most of the attention going off at even weights as she takes on some relatively lightly-raced fillies here. Radio Gaga should improve here and you can also expect some support for Brick Tops who is 1/1 and looks set to enjoy the distance.
There are eight solid races set to go at Newbury tomorrow and several Group level contests anchor the card. A number of the premier races will be featured during the day's Scoop6 while punters can expect some seriously good prices on several of the high-quality handicaps on offer for Saturday. The flat season looks to be well and truly under way now that we've just had the Craven run on Thursday.
The Scottish National is featuring a number of last week's Grand National contestants with the likes of West End Rocker, Junior and Vic Ventauri all remaining competitive in the ante post markets. The race itself looks to be significantly less testing than the 4m4f iteration at Aintree and it will be interesting to see how well these three came out of that contest.
After a fantastic first day's action at Aintree, we're set for the second leg of jumps racing though you suspect most punters will have their eyes firmly-fixed on Saturday's 4m4f showpiece. Several graded contests get the day rolling and most will hope the conditions prove as exciting as Day 1 – where Big Buck's made history and rattled off his 17th win in a row – matching a modern National Hunt record by doing so.
The day's first race is the Tangle Teaser Top Novices' Hurdle, which shapes up as a Grade 2 event. Nicky Henderson saddles Captain Conan and he was a beaten favourite...
After a fantastic first day's action at Aintree, we're set for the second leg of jumps racing though you suspect most punters will have their eyes firmly-fixed on Saturday's 4m4f showpiece. Several graded contests get the day rolling and most will hope the conditions prove as exciting as Day 1 – where Big Buck's made history and rattled off his 17th win in a row – matching a modern National Hunt record by doing so.
The day's first race is the Tangle Teaser Top Novices' Hurdle, which shapes up as a Grade 2 event. Nicky Henderson saddles Captain Conan and he was a beaten favourite...
The Thursday card at Aintree's Grand National kicks off tomorrow with seven stellar-looking contests up for grabs and punters will be treated to the presence of a living-legend right from the beginning with hurdling sensation Big Buck's set to challenge seven contenders in the Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle. The going continues to be listed as good to soft with many observers expecting the conditions to hold throughout the entirety of Thursday's action.
Big Buck's faces a stiff challenge from Tidal Bay and Smad Place – the latter of whom came in third behind Big Buck's in the World Hurdle. His sole victory this season came over ground listed as good to soft and he looks an interesting outside shot for his Aintree debut. Lightly-raced with just a solitary run...
