Must read update and Delayed Aintree review 2015 from Chris Days Ten To Follow this National Hunt season 2014/15

Must read update from Chris Days Ten To Follow this National Hunt season 2014/15

Aintree festival 2015  review from our ten to follow analyst click to follow @Chrisday100 on twitter.

Quick apology to chris and followers for not getting review out in time not professional on my part. 

Aintree Grand National 2015 

Here we are, then, end of another term and, as far as our Ten To Follow goes, it looks like we’ll just have the two horses, Saphir Du Rheu, who has engagements in either the Grade 1 3 mile hurdle or Friday’s 3 mile novice chase as an option, and Brother Brian, who runs in either the aforementioned hurdle or the 3 mile handicap hurdle.



At this stage, options remain open so it’ll be down to these two to put us into profit for the season.



Obviously, the biggest race of the season from a betting point of view is The Grand National but there are so many previews available that doing another seems futile so the purpose of this is to highlight a few horses who could prove worth following over the three days.



Starting on Thursday, The Foxhunters’ Chase will be billed as a coronation for wildly impressive Cheltenham winner, On The Fringe, who travelled like a dream before putting the race to bed at the festival in a typically strong run race. He could well be a high class chaser for next year but will represent no value over the big fences and the second top rated horse on official ratings, Big Fella Thanks,(8th) has an enviable record here, having been placed and finished sixth in the big race itself from marks in the high 140s. It’s debatable whether he really sees out marathon trips but loves this kind of distance on a flat left hand track and showed he’s no back number when runner up to Annacotty at Cheltenham in January. As an each way bet, there won’t be many better all week.



The following race, a handicap chase over the minimum trip, will be run at a break neck pace but one who’ll sit and wait and has the right jockey for such tactics is Karinga Dancer, ( PU ) already a course winner over hurdles in a strong race and who now gets his optimum conditions for the first time in a while. Last seen in Newbury’s Game Spirit Chase, he will be at home sitting in behind and hopefully be unleashed by Noel Fehily between the last two when others will be crying enough. He will love being fresh as he won after 205 days off the track in his previous victory here.



Silver Cross Stayers' Hurdle features potentially Brother Brian, and I certainly wouldn't put anyone off him having faded into sixth place from the last in Cheltenham’s Pertemps Final four weeks ago. I thought he was a bit keen in front and, if his energy can be conserved, then he must go well.


In the first race on Friday, I fancy Great Try, runner up in Sandown’s EBF Final, to go very close over what should prove ideal conditions and feel he has a fair bit of potential from his current rating. The EBF Final invariably works out exceptionally well in subsequent hurdle races and, if the winner was taken out, he’d have been a comprehensive winner. If he doesn’t get in here, there’s an amateur/conditionals race over 2 miles on Saturday won by Court Minstrel last year which would suit equally well as he’s a very strong traveller with a great turn of foot.



The Grade 1 Melling Chase is always a great spectacle and my nap of the meeting goes to Al Ferof, rated just 1lb below last year’s Champion Chaser, Sire De Grugy and a fine third in The King George over Christmas. He doesn't really stay 3 miles but had earlier thrashed Champion Chase runner up, Somersby, seven lengths at Ascot and missing Cheltenham can only be seen as a bonus for a horse whose record fresh reads 1F(fell when 3 lengths clear)111. He had Champagne Fever, Cue Card and John’s Spirit behind at Kempton and the yard is in such form that I see no reason for placings to be reversed.

Al Ferof Nap.

Nicholls can also have this year’s Topham winner in the shape of Ruben Cotter, who won a consolation race for horses balloted out of Cheltenham at Kempton by an easy looking 4 lengths and seems likely to have plenty more to give from his revised mark of 142. He showed he stays further when beating Vintage Star over 26 furlongs at Doncaster last season and has likely been kept in training for races like this and even better for connections who don’t waste their time with under achievers. A feature of Nicholls’ training is his understanding of when to place horses up in class and anyone following his big race runners this season will probably have their pockets full at the time of writing.


So, on to Saturday and first up is a 2 mile 4 furlongs Grade 1 novice hurdle won last year by Lac Fontana, who’d earlier won a County Hurdle off 139. Nicholls has easy EBF Final winner, As De Mee, a horse he nominated for this race as soon as he crossed the line at Sandown, as his hope here. For all the aforementioned reasons, I’ll be backing him here and he could well be value as this race could feature some highly touted rivals who had tough enough races at Cheltenham. A flat track should be fine for a horse with loads of speed and the trainer overlooked an opportunity at Cheltenham in much less lofty company to wait for this.


The 3.25, a 3 mile 1 furlong handicap chase, finally gives Evan Williams’ Buywise the chance to show what he can do over his likely best trip after flying home over shorter for the second consecutive time at the festival. He won last April at Cheltenham over 2 miles 5 furlongs so this is definitely his time of year and the slightly slower pace should give Moloney time to sit and pounce on the long punishing run to the last in a race which helped make the trainer’s name when subsequent Hennessy winner and multiple Grand National placed State Of Play won it all those years ago.



Finally, if there are still any funds left, don’t let Peter Bowen’s Hollies Pearl, go unbacked in the 5.40, a mares’ flat race, a contest the trainer has a good record in. She was an incredibly easy nine lengths winner of a Chepstow bumper under a penalty from a Phillip Hobbs’ trained 5-1 newcomer and could go under the radar in a race the big stables and also those from Ireland invariably target.

2015