Tuesday’s best bets, by Chris Cook
When I spoke to Andrew Tulloch, Aintree’s clerk of the course, last night, he jokingly described the going on the Grand National course as “flippers and snorkels stuff”. But the good news is that he doesn’t foresee the race taking place on bad ground a week on Saturday, having been given quite a bit of hope by a dry forecast.
After 22mm of rain on Monday, Tulloch said: “It’s taken it well. The National’s probably soft, possibly heavy in the Canal Turn area. But once you get back across stands-side, you’re verging on good to soft, good, on some of that. With a bit of warmth, this course is like a piece of blotting paper. The Mildmay course is soft but probably tomorrow there’ll be more good to soft about it.”
Tulloch added that the weather hasn’t been as wet on Merseyside as it has in the south in recent weeks and said the forecast is for mostly dry weather into next week, with the temperature clambering into double-figures for some of the time. That’s what I also see in the forecast I use, perhaps 3mm of rain today being followed by five dry days.
So there’s at least hope that the Aintree race won’t descend into a proper slog with just four finishers. Now all we need are some starters. Today brings more bad news on that score, as Paul Nicholls reports As De Mee is out for the rest of the season with a leg injury, meaning Judi Dench will not own a National runner and half a dozen feature writers are frantically casting around for a new subject.
By my reckoning, that gives Milansbar and Bryony Frost a place in the National line-up, because five of the top 40 entrants have now been ruled out by connections: Cause Of Causes, Bellshill, Rathvinden, Acapella Bourgeois and As De Mee.
We are once more without jump racing today, thanks to waterlogged tracks at Catterick and Leopardstown. You know it’s a slow day when I’ve napped in an amateur riders race on Fibresand...
Simon Walker is always the first name folk look for in these races and rightly so but he’s on Isstoora, who beat nothing in her maiden win at this course in December and has since struggled in two handicaps, being beaten 25 lengths here last time. Serena Brotherton has a more obvious chance on the 7-2 shot African Trader (4.55), who landed a gamble here last month and possibly did not appreciate being turned out under a penalty the next week.
Three weeks later and now just 3lb higher than for his win, he should go well here, with the extra furlong likely to help.
At 11-2, I’ll take a chance on Interlink (4.45) at Lingfield, where he makes his debut for Michael Bell, having been auctioned for 8,000 guineas in early February. He’s shown flashes of ability for three different trainers, including last time out for Marjorie Fife, and isn’t a bad price against a favourite, Tavener, who ran yesterday.
Chess Move (7.15) was doubly declared today but goes to Kempton tonight for a seven-furlong handicap and might be overpriced at 25-1. A winner at Epsom on his second start as a juvenile, he was rather too fresh on his reappearance last month but that ought to have let some air out of his tyres and this drop in trip may also help.
Lingfield 1.40 Ertidaad 2.10 Mime Dance 2.45 Flavius Titus 3.15 Faay 3.45 Newstead Abbey 4.15 Sweet Symphony 4.45 Interlink (nb) 5.15 Night Story
Southwell 1.50 Archie Stevens 2.25 Lord Oberon 2.55 Monks Stand 3.25 Monsieur Jimmy 3.55 Moltoir 4.25 Gleaming Sun 4.55 African Trader (nap)
Kempton 5.45 Swift Fox 6.15 Vice Marshal 6.45 Mordin 7.15 Chess Move 7.45 Stosur 8.15 Exceeding Power 8.45 Wally’s Wisdom 9.15 Iley Boy
Catterick abandoned
