Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: I’d love to ride Shakem Up’Arry

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty looks over the second day of action from Aintree’s Grand National Festival.

Aintree, Friday

The opening contest, the Mildmay Novices’ Chase (1:45 pm), is very competitive. INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN ran a brilliant race when winning the Kim Muir after disappointing on his previous start at Leopardstown back in February. He was hampered that day by a faller and probably found the 2m5f a little bit sharp for him after that. I think he is the one to beat and he’s probably the one you want to be on. Obviously, the each-way market is restricted with only six runners but there is potentially value in Broadway Boy. In the early part of the season he progressed well, winning a valuable staying handicap chase at Cheltenham in December, when he had Protektorat back in third. I still think there is potential for a step forward after a 90-day break and he’s a horse still on the up.

Dan Skelton seems to be throwing everything at the William Hill Handicap Hurdle (2:20pm) with five entered in the race, which is no surprise as he will have an eye on the trainer’s championship. However, the one I like here is JANGO BAIE for Nicky Henderson whose horses are coming back after a bit of a break. He won the Formby Novices’ at Aintree when beating Favour And Fortune in good style, who then went on to be a good second to Fun Fun Fun at Exeter, so that form line looks strong. Since then, he’s run a good second at Kelso in Grade 2 company. It will be interesting to see how Nicky’s horses perform on the opening day, and if they are back to form, then I’d have even more confidence in Jango Baie.

The Top Novices’ Hurdle (2:55pm) looks very tricky. It’s easy to make a case for Mystical Power, who ran a brilliant race in the Supreme. I’m not convinced that he is best suited to the soft going though, so I do have my concerns. The horse I like is MISTERGIF, who was only beaten 11 lengths by Supreme winner Slade Steel and finished about 5 lengths behind Mystical Power. He’s only had two starts since joining Willie Mullins and there should be more to come. He’s a very keen going horse who was dropped in in the Supreme, but he has a good bit of pace, and I just think with eight runners in the field, he could be the value.

The Melling Chase (3:30pm) sees the return of Jonbon in what looks a great race. Pic D’Orhy won this last year, so he obviously likes it around Aintree. Protektorat won the Ryanair last month but Aintree is a very different test to Cheltenham and I’m not fully sure that he will have the pace that is needed to win here. The field is strong, but I think JONBON is the one. He has always looked like he would benefit from stepping up in trip, so this 2m4f is going to be ideal for him.  His jumping let him down in the Clarence House, so he obviously needs to pull that together, but he has only been beaten once over fences before that. If he runs to his best form, he is the one to beat.

There’s a horse in the Topham Handicap (4:05pm) who I’d love to ride, and that’s SHAKEM UP’ARRY – he jumped so well at Cheltenham! It’s easy for this horse as he has so much scope and power, he measures his fences really well. I was chatting with Ben (Pauling) that evening and he knew he would be going to the Topham if he didn’t get into the National, so he’s fully aware of his jumping capabilities. The other one that looks a little bit of value each-way is Kandoo Kid, who is another good jumper. He was a good second in Newbury last time out on heavy ground so he will cope with the conditions.

The penultimate race is the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle (4:40pm). The Jukebox Man was unlucky not to have won at Cheltenham, Kielan Woods gave him a brilliant ride through the race, dictating the pace really well and was unfortunate to get caught. I don’t think he’ll be given such an easy lead this time round, though. READIN TOMMY WRONG absolutely bombed out and pulled up in the Albert Bartlett, but that was too bad to be true. The fact he’s back here four weeks after disappointing suggests there was a little issue and potentially that has now been addressed. He was one of my bankers for Cheltenham, so we will be putting a bit of trust in Willie Mullins, but there is no better person to rely on. If he can bounce back to his best, he’s the one to beat.

The Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap (5:15pm) at the end of the day is a wide-open event, but I like MAIDENSTREETPRINCE. He fell last time out at Cork when challenging Sir Gerhard over the second last. That was over 2 miles, and it was a big run. Charles Byrnes doesn’t tend to bring horses to big meetings like this for the fun of it. It is also worth noting Densworth as one with an each-way shout, he won his first run back from a wind-op at Doncaster and very easily for that matter. He’s up 10lbs but I’d say there is more to come from him.