Harry Cobden did the business on Clan Des Obeaux to hand Sir Alex Ferguson another Aintree winner in the Betway Bowl.
Ferguson landed an incredible 62/1 treble on the first day of the Grand National Festival last year with three winners in the opening three races, with three trained by Paul Nicholls.
The 12-time Champion Trainer Nicholls vowed to give the former Manchester United boss more success ahead of Thursday’s races and duly delivered, with the Sir Alex-owned Clan Des Obeaux winning at 13-2.
READ MORE: Grand National 2022 final 40 runners and riders confirmed at Aintree
Aintree is proving a happy hunting ground for Ferguson, who was so often a foe for Liverpool at Anfield. He was asked by ITV Racing how good it feels to be winning on Merseyside, to which he replied: “It’s always good to win here," before admitting: “I’m not used to it…until now!”
Conflated ridden by Davy Russell finished second in the Grade One race while Kemboy was third with Paul Townend on board.
The Gordon Elliott-trained Conflated ran well but couldn’t quite catch Clan on the run to the line in testing conditions at Aintree.
Speaking about his winners last year, which won nearly £169,000 for connections and the former Old Trafford boss, Ferguson said: "That’s the best day I’ve had in my time in racing, which is about 20 years or so.
"It is different to when I was managing my football teams - I was in control of what was going to happen on the pitch, but I’m not in control of that (on the racecourse) as the trainer does all of that and as an owner you hope it goes well.
"You do get the same excitement when you win big races like that as it does get you very excited.”
More to follow.
