Aintree Day One

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumping from Aintree and Taunton and flat cards from Southwell and Chelmsford City.  Of course, the big meeting of the day comes from Aintree where it is the first day of the 2016 Grand National fixture.  David has one runner, Dynaste at Aintree, while Heath Hunter and Baby Sherlock represent Pond House at Taunton.  Dynaste (pictured above) runs in the Betfair Bowl, a race that he was second in in 2014 - he is a 50/1 chance today which tells it's own story about how strong a race it is.  If Cue Card is over his Gold Cup fall he will surely take plenty of beating.  The one I am looking forward to seeing is Champion Hurdle winner Annie Power - what a great mare she is.

This is the warm-up day for Aintree.  It certainly isn't as crowded and plenty of people will be looking around to see if there are any new bars or restaurants that have opened.  You can actually walk around the place comfortably today and the owners and trainers area is not overflowing.  We are going to see some strange outfits in the daily newspapers over the coming few days (and that is just the men!).  Aintree is a completely different atmosphere to Cheltenham with a much more colourful crowd who probably only go racing once a year - they certainly make the most of it.  I will also be making my usual visit to see Red Rum next to the winning post at some point over the next three days.

Heath Hunter runs in the 4.30pm at Taunton and he should once again go well.  The trouble is he is extremely consistent and therefore never gets any respite from the handicapper who seems to have him exactly where he wants him.  Conditional jockey David Noonan is in the saddle and takes a handy 5lbs off his back.  Meanwhile, Baby Sherlock contests the bumper at 6.10pm - he will have learned plenty from his racecourse debut and this better forecast ground could help.

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Three more fun facts ahead of the Grand National on Saturday, this time focusing around the Great Manifesto who was twice a winner of the big race...

Manifesto ran in the Grand National a record eight times between the years of 1895 and 1904.
He won the race twice and jointly holds the record for carrying the most weight to victory (12-7) in 1899 as well as carrying most weight to finish in the frame (12-13) when third in 1900.
He won the race in 1897 and 1899 but was denied the opportunity to become the only horse ever to win the Grand National three years in a row when his stable lad left his stable door open in the run-up to the 1898 Grand National and he injured a fetlock when unusually falling at a five bar gate when trying to make his escape.  His lad ran away and began work elsewhere under an assumed name

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I see there have been some lumpy bets on Rory McIlroy to win the Masters that starts today and Ladbrokes have reported taking £2,000 each way at 9/1.  When I am betting on the golf I always want a much bigger price as there are so many good golfers and you do get turn-ups.

Jurgen Klopp takes Liverpool back to his old club Borussia Dortmund tonight.  It should certainly be interesting as the Dortmund fans still love Klopp who was there for seven years.  Talking football, there was a great result for Manchester City last night as they drew 2-2 with Paris St Germain.  Joe Hart even managed to save a penalty, mind you there was some sloppy defending.

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Thought for the day:  If you must make a noise, make it quietly (Laurel & Hardy)

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