AINTREE FESTIVAL 2018
Day 3 – Grand National Day
Saturday 14 April
|
Picture of the Day
Davy Russell endeavours to get
aboard Petit Mouchoir I was awake at 06:00, woken by my alarm. Breakfast was at 07:15. After yesterday’s problem with my car bonnet, we
decided to travel to Aintree in Sandra’s car.
We departed just before 09:30, taking around 35 minutes to reach the
racecourse. Being the busiest Festival day of the three, it took some time
for us to clear the vehicle security check.
However this worked to our advantage, as we were directed to park
within the row of cars immediately adjacent to the entrance; in fact we were
the nearest vehicle to said entrance, being just three or four metres
away! Having had our handbags checked, our bodies
scanned and tickets scanned too, we walked across the Melling
Road and race-track in order to catch a bus to the grandstand side of the
course. Having alighted, we headed
along the concourse to buy a couple of race-cards; today’s kiosk backed onto
the Queen Mother stand. We then bought
two bottles of water and paid a visit to the ladies loo, the one situated to
the rear of the Earl of Derby stand.
It was already time for us to reserve our space for the remainder of the
afternoon, beside the horse-walk exit gateway. I did pop away briefly, to buy a copy of
the Racing Post whilst Sandra guarded our spot. This year, we’d foregone the course-walk; we’d
been let in late on Thursday, Friday had been wet, and today it was
imperative to reserve our vantage point as early as possible. Besides, I didn’t fancy wearing myself out,
having been suffering from a pelvis issue since the beginning of
January. The Parade of Champions took place again today –
taking part were Bindaree, Silver Birch, Mon Mome, Neptune Collonges, Pineau De Re, and Rule The World; Don’t Push It also
appeared today, having missed the parade on Thursday and Friday. The horses paraded in the Paddock
initially; then out upon the racecourse itself. Mick Fitzgerald was inducted into the Hall Of
Fame today. As usual, we spent time
people-watching. Today we saw Oli Bell, Harry Cobden, Carl Llewellyn, Tom Bellamy,
Andrew Thornton, Cornelius Lysaght, Katie Walsh, Brough Scott, James and Sean Bowen, the lovely Tom
Stanley, Marcus Armytage, Richard Hoiles, Evan Williams along with stable jockey Adam
Wedge, Robert Waley-Cohen without his sons, Fergal
O’Brien and his partner Sally Randell, Philip and
Diana Hobbs along with Ian Popham; also Jimmy
Frost, father of Bryony. Tom Scudamore and Barry Geraghty
went to walk the course. Sandra was
disappointed that Oli Bell is a smoker! My work colleague, Toni, had texted me whilst I
was preparing to depart for the racecourse; she was also in the Earl of Derby
enclosure today. However, she didn’t
manage to locate me, despite the fact I never moved throughout the
afternoon! Needless to say, I wasn’t
going to go in search of her in case I lost my place! The favourite for the first race of the day was
Mr Big Shot, trained by David Pipe and ridden by Tom Scudamore;
price 7-1. My non-betting selection
was Debece. Mr Big Shot duly obliged, with Debece finishing 4th.
The favourite for the next race was the Nicky
Henderson-trained, Nico de Boinville-ridden,
On The Blind Side; price 11-8. He’d
missed Cheltenham due to a minor set-back.
Alan King had a runner in this race, namely
Chosen Path ridden by Wayne Hutchinson.
But it was Black Op, trained by Tom George which
prevailed; he’d finished 2nd to Samcro in the Grade
1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The odds-on favourite for the next race was the
highly-strung Petit Mouchoir, ridden by Davy
Russell; price 4-5. Trained by Henry
de Bromhead, the grey played up when coming through
the tunnel onto the racecourse. He had
bumped into and dislodged the guard rails when he exited the Parade Ring and
Davy was unable to get aboard until he’d reached the ‘corral’ in front of the stands ... and, even then, it was with
difficulty. Petit Mouchoir
travelled to the starting gate okay though. Anyway, it was all academic, because the Paul
Nicholls-trained Diego Du Charmil ridden by Harry
Cobden beat the Irish raider by 2½ lengths.
My fancy was Lady Buttons, but she could finish only 4th.
The favourite for the next was Thomas Patrick,
trained by Tom Lacey and ridden by Richard Johnson;
price 3-1. He duly obliged, by 4
lengths. It was Tom Lacey’s second winner of the Festival, with all four of
his runners finishing in the first 4 in their respective events! My selection, Ibis Du Rheu
finished 5th.
The favourite for the next race was Sam Spinner,
trained by Jedd O’Keeffe and ridden by Joe Colliver; price 6-5.
Although racing prominently, he could finish only 3rd today. The race was won by the Henry de Bromhead-trained Identity Thief, ridden by Sean
Flanagan. He’d been stepped up in trip
from 2 miles to 3 miles today, having finished 4th in last month’s Champion
Hurdle. Both Sandra and I had fancied Wholestone;
he’d won the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham on New
Year’s Day. However he finished as
runner-up today.
There were 38 runners going to post in the year’s
feature race. The first reserve, Road
To Riches, had got into the race on Thursday following a withdrawal. Then on Friday, Thunder And Roses, Delusionsofgrandeur, and Walk In the Mill became
participants. However, the field was
reduced to 38 on Saturday, with Regal Encore now a non-runner, as was the
final reserve Walk In The Mill. One of the withdrawals had been the
top-weight Minella Rocco, so all of the weights had
to rise by one pound, thus making Blaklion the new
top weight. There were 16 Irish runners in the field; that’s
42%. Five of the runners were owned by
Michael O’Leary, that’s 13%. The
oldest horses in the race were Bless The Wings and Raz
De Maree; both aged 13. Bless The Wings used to be trained by Alan
King and was now trained by Gordon Elliott.
Raz De Maree won
this season’s Welsh Grand National. JP
McManus had three runners remaining in the race – Anibale
Fly, Carlingford Lough and Pendra. I decided to place each-way bets on Shantou Flyer
and Warriors Tale. The latter was bred
by Alan King and is trained by Paul Nicholls; the horse had been purchased by
Trevor Hemmings recently. Shantou Flyer’s price was 20-1 and Warriors
Tale 33-1. The favourite was Total Recall at 7-1; trained by
Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend. He may have won the Ladbrokes Trophy
(formerly the Hennessy Gold Cup) in early December, but he’s a dodgy
jumper! Adrian Heskin had
broken his arm when falling aboard Rocklander
during race 4; he was replaced aboard Aintree stalwart Saint Are, by Ciaran Gethings. Even Richard Johnson didn’t have a ride in
this year’s race! The runners were waived around Becher’s Brook on the second circuit due to green screens
having been erected around jockey Charlie Deutsch; his mount Houblon Des Obeaux had fallen
at the fence on the first circuit.
Jockey Danny Cook, whose mount I Just Know had also fallen at the
fence, directed the runners; the BHA enquired into this – as it was a health
and safety issue! However, it seems
there is one rule for Ruby Walsh and another for Danny Cook; Ruby had done a
similar thing back in 2015, at the Canal Turn, with far less furore! Disappointingly, the first four horses home were all
trained in Ireland; 12 finished and only four of these were Brits. However, the first of the home team to
finish was Milansbar ridden by Bryony Frost; there
were three lady riders taking part, and two completed – Bryony, and Katie
Walsh in last place. Gavin Sheehan broke a bone in his arm as a result
of falling at the Canal Turn, on the first circuit, aboard Final Nudge. There were concerns, initially, for Saint Are;
he’d been brought down at The Chair when Alpha Des Obeaux
fell. The Tom George runner had
galloped away, but seemed to have been suffering from some form of shock once
caught. Anyway, after veterinary care
and an overnight stay at Aintree, he was allowed home; by Monday, Saint Are
was trotting around in a paddock without a care in the world. It was also announced that he’d been
retired. https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/985912445725065217 It appears that I’ve forgotten to mention that the
winner was Tiger Roll, ridden by Davy Russell, trained by Gordon Elliott and
owned by Michael O’Leary! It was a
photo-finish, with Pleasant Company almost collaring him at the line; Willie
Mullins will have to wait longer for a second Grand National winner – Hedgehunter being his only success in this race. However, it was Gordon Elliott’s second
one; Silver Birch having been the first when the trainer was almost unknown!
The favourite for the final race of the day was
Michael’s Mount, trained by Ian Williams and ridden by James Bowen; price
4-1. Both Sandra and I fancied Donald McCain runners –
she liked William Of Orange, whilst I liked the grey Dear Sire. The race was won by the Tony Carroll-trained
Havana Beat, ridden by James Nixon; price 12-1. However, it would have been very different
if Katie Walsh’s mount, Scheu Time, hadn’t fallen
at the last when leading. Dear Sire
was also badly hampered as a result of this departure; in fact my selection
was almost brought down! Anyway, Dear Sire did hang on to the runner-up
position, at a price of 12-1. William
Of Orange was pulled up. Green screens were erected around Katie Walsh for
a while, with her father Ted Walsh and a companion rushing down the course to
see if she was okay. She was and rose
to her feet before they got there ... so they turned around and strolled
back!
Here is a round-up of the Top Jockey and Top
Trainer statistics for this year’s Festival ... Daryl Jacob, having won three Grade One races,
aboard We Have A Dream, L’Ami Serge and Terrefort respectively, claimed the Top Jockey award.
And Nicky Henderson claimed the Top Trainer award
with 5 victories – We Have A Dream, Might Bite, L’Ami
Serge, Terrefort and Santini;
all Grade One races too! Tom Lacey was the surprise package; Alan King failed to win a
race but did have a second, two thirds and a fourth.
Today’s racecourse escape was in total contrast
to last year; although we’d been delayed in a queue to leave via the Anchor Bridge,
once outside we’d turned right and headed back via the swing bridge to join
the A506 without any problems. Having
subsequently joined the M57, we travelled for just one junction before
continuing eastbound on the A580 to reach our hotel. We arrived back at said hotel at 19:55,
with dinner booked for 21:00. In the restaurant we were shown to a table to the
left of the fireplace; a 4-seater in fact.
We both fancied chips today, so ordered a separate side-order of thin
fries. Our main course was the vegetable lasagne, the same meal which I’d
enjoyed on Thursday evening. It was
accompanied by garlic bread. I didn’t
quite manage to eat all of the fries ... I was too full, but still found room
for a dessert, as you do – my choice was baked cheesecake. I packed some of my clothes and clobber on
Saturday evening, leaving the remainder until early Sunday. I also took a number of bags to my car,
before calling for Sandra at 07:45 to go to breakfast. I didn’t use the lift today, when I
transported my luggage, although I’d used it a number of times on Wednesday
evening when taking my bags to my room.
I set off for home at 08:45. I’d already researched, via my mobile
phone, which motorway Service Stations had a WH Smiths on site as I wanted to
buy a copy of the Racing Post. I chose
Knutsford; it seemed appropriate!!! There were no delays on the motorways, M6 and
M1. I noticed an attractive ‘shades of blue’ building beside the
motorway at Milton Keynes – Altitude - evidently it’s a warehouse, the largest
and tallest in the UK! Who’d have
thought a warehouse could be attractive!!! I arrived home at 12:15. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
