Aintree festival

[Saxon Warrior]

I usually only play with small stakes at the meeting, and tomorrow, I am having a Trixie on the meeting.

Edwardstone 7/1
Belfast Banter (11/2 w/o fav)
Cape Gentleman (7/2 w/o fav)

I’m pinning the hopes for it on the County Hurdle, where Belfast Banter travelled well off a strong pace, and was just too good at the weights, for a big field.
Hopefully a strong pace tomorrow sorts them out, and he is able to go again, at the business end.

Edwardstone is a quality handicapper, and looked tapped for toe in the County before eating up ground up the hill to be beaten by a diminishing 3 lengths.
Looked booked for second in 100 years more.
2M4F looks like it will suit him well, nice ground is good for him too, and a decent pace.
Bridesmaid or Bride tomorrow?

Emmet Mullins is chasing the Festival cash again tomorrow, and although he has 10lb to make up with Bravemansgame at the moment, he has done well this season, at a slightly lower level and the step up in trip looks an interesting play by connections, who are not stupid, the trainer doing particularly well with his runners in Britain.

[jack1092]

There's an Aintree thread Saxon lol

[Saxon Warrior]

There's an Aintree thread Saxon lol

It was late last night, I scanned around, must have been too late for coherent thought.

Plus it was hidden up in the diary space way above the threads

[Saxon Warrior]

Playing with money won from the Trixie yesterday, one non-runner and one winner (Belfast Banter).

Repeated the bet type with another Trixie for Saturday

Tea Clipper (1.45pm) 13/2
Diol Ker (3.35pm) 11/1
Johnbb (4.15pm) 12/1

Two Tom Lacey horses book-end the bet, with Noel Meade’s Diol Ker the centrepiece.

Tea Clipper racked up a 6L P2P win and won his first 3 novice hurdles on the trot over 2M last season which culminated in a close 2nd over a mid-trip.
This season began very well with a win in the season-starting Chepstow meeting where he won the Grade 3 Silver Trophy Handicap (often a well contested event) by over 2L from Flash The Steel. The result was reversed next time out at the Hennessy meeting at Newbury.

After a two month break TC warmed up in a 2M jumpers bumper on the all-weather, then came back to hurdling when a staying on third (even though hampered at the last by Blue Sari’s fall) in the Coral Cup at Cheltenham behind Heaven Help Us.

He is rated 1lb higher after the Coral Cup run.

His sire is an influence for stamina and a 3M trip, and his best-rated sibling was a 3M Hurdle/chaser, so the step up to 3M makes sense.


Diol Ker’s form does warrant scrutiny, he beat Monkfish in a mid-trip Novice Hurdle early last season, had a year off, and after a debut novice Chase fall performed adequately in two more chases before connections switched back to hurdles, with a scrambled win in bad ground at Christmas followed by equally heavy ground in a Group 2, where he almost got back up on Sams Profile on his first 3M hurdle test.

Connections must be okay with Good to Soft for Aintree, as it’s been forecast that all week.
Hoping it’s another one for the Irish.


Johnbb is hoping to follow his stablemate Thomas Patrick with a victory in the 3M Chase, though this is a first run at the trip for him.
He won well on seasonal debut, before falling two out on his next start, when chasing the leader down, and would have been a close second looking at the video again.
The second placed horse has won both starts since, and rated 10lb higher.
The third horse won next time out and is 5lb higher
The fourth horse (Time To Get Up) has won both his starts since and is 11lb higher.

Johnbb would have comfortably beaten all three of those horses, and can race off a 1lb higher mark (137) after a break of over 100 days and on better ground, which should suit.

Being by Stowaway with a staying pedigree on the dams side, he looks capable of improvement stepping up to 3M.