Barry Geraghty
Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Don’t give up on Inthepocket
William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty previews the first day of Aintree’s Grand National Festival.
Aintree, Thursday
There isn’t a lot between Maestro Conti, Minella Study and Selma De Vary on their run in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, and the trio clash again in Grade 1 Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle (1:45pm). I’m going to go against the Cheltenham form though and side with MANGE TOUT who skipped the Festival and comes into this race fresh. She beat Narciso Has back in November and then was third behind the same rival in Grade 1 company at the Dublin Racing Festival. Mange Tout was just behind Selma De Vary that day and to me she slightly underperformed that day, hence we haven’t seen her since. If bouncing back, she could offer a bit of value here.
LULAMBA should be hard to beat in the Grade 1 William Hill Manifesto Novices’ Chase (2:20pm) and I think the step up in trip here should be a big help to him. He really had to work hard to win the William Hill Game Spirit over two miles at Newbury and then he ran into two very smart performers in Kargese and Kopek Des Bordes at Cheltenham in the Arkle. I think he progressed from Newbury to Cheltenham, and seemed to travel better there and jump well bar a mistake at the second last. If he reproduces anything like that form here, he’ll be tough to beat.
I fully respect Jango Baie in the Grade 1 Bowl Chase (2:55pm), after his excellent run in the Gold Cup, and he is the one to beat but I’d rather look for a bit of value. SPILLANE’S TOWER is a horse that I still don’t think we’ve seen the best of and he could be the value here. He went to Cheltenham but he was pulled out of the Gold Cup when connections felt the ground was too quick for him. He has a high level of form and on ratings he is only three pounds behind Jango Baie. Looking back through his record, he finished a close second to Fact Or File in the John Durkan at the beginning of last season and had Galopin Des Champs behind him that day, so that’s right up there with the best form around. He’s a bit reliant on the ground being on the easy side of good but they should water a good bit at Aintree, so conditions are likely to be suitable for him. He does also hold an entry in the Grand National itself, so connections will likely be monitoring the ground again, but if he runs here, he certainly has the ability to play a part.
Barring a mistake at the last, BARTON SNOW jumped well when winning the Hunters’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and he looks sure to go well again in the Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase (3:30pm). To me the key could be the drop back in trip to two-miles-five-furlongs as Barton Snow seems to have lots of pace and travelled so strongly through the race at Cheltenham. Coming back in trip may be a benefit to him and he could well back up his good performance last time.
The William Hill Aintree Hurdle (4:05pm) sees another clash between The New Lion and BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD after their run at Cheltenham. Brighterdaysahead probably paid the price for getting into an earlier scrap with Lossiemouth in the Champion Hurdle, but still ran well to finish second. She was a winner over this course and distance as a novice and I think she might just hold the edge over The New Lion again.
Sans Bruit has won the last two renewals of the Red Rum Handicap Chase (4:40pm) and comes here with a strong chance again. The one I thought was interesting though was INTHEPOCKET. He fell in the Grand Annual at Cheltenham, where he was dropped in and was beginning to get into contention when coming down at the second last. He looked to be making ground at a difficult time to do so and got a bit tight for room when making his blunder. He was a horse that was highly thought of and he won a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Aintree, but we haven’t seen that much of him due to injuries. At Cheltenham he looked to be running like a horse that had a good bit to offer though, and with Henry de Bromhead having a fine record in this, he might be the one to side with.
The Grade 2 Mares’ Bumper (5:15pm) looks competitive. PRINCESS DAY has done nothing wrong to date, winning her first two starts at Chepstow and Newbury. She was an impressive winner the last day, beating Fairy Park, who reopposes here, by nearly five lengths. If backing that up she would look to have good claims for Jeremy Scott, who is a trainer that does very well with mares.
