Aintree Day Two

            Jack Tudor Taunton Double 

I thought it was a great day of racing action up at Aintree yesterday on ground that looked quite 'dead' and a bit hard work which is what can happen when they have been plenty of watering.  What it does mean however that the ground is safe and there were some good races.  Lulamba got rid of Nico De Boinville mid-race which left the door open for Kocktail Divin to win while Nico wasn't down in the dumps for long with Jango Baie winning the Aintree Bowl impressively.  Barton Snow was again very impressive in the Foxhunters and was given a very cool ride by amateur jockey Henry Crowe.  Brighterdaysahead showed her class in the Aintree hurdle and capped a fine day for Gordon Elliott.  At Taunton, Jack Tudor rode a nice double particularly impressing with his horsemanship skills in the bumper.  The Olly Murphy trained gelding got rid of Jack on the way to the start and then was very green during the race but Jack did a great job in getting him to win.

We move on to day two of Aintree with more exciting racing to look forward to and there is also a jumps card up at Sedgefield.  The flat racing comes from Thirsk and Wolverhampton while in Ireland they have a jumps card at Wexford and race on the all-weather at Dundalk this evening.  

The Aintree card gets underway with a competitive handicap hurdle over 2m4f at 1.45pm which looks wide open.  I am a big fan of the horse Jazzy Matty who returns to hurdling after narrowly missing out in winning over the larger obstacles at the Cheltenham Festival last month.  While some horses are just not as good in one discipline as they are another, there has been money for Jazzy Matty who is running off a lower handicap mark and I think he could be a good each way bet.  Jack Tudor has a ride for Olly Murphy in this race but he is a big price and looks to have it all to do.  Gold Dancer is favourite for the Willie Mullins team in the 3m1f novices chase at 2.20pm and would be by choice for this race while Sober Glory is favourite for the 2m novices hurdle at 2.55pm.  He is the one they all have to beat after a cracking run in the Supreme last time.  Heart Wood is looking to follow up his Festival win in the Melling chase at 3.30pm and is difficult to oppose while Madara is favourite for the Topham over the National Fences at 4.05pm.  He is ten pounds higher than for his win in the plate last time but he won so easily that day that if he takes to the fences I think he may take some catching.  I think No Drama This End will put the disaster of Cheltenham behind him in the three mile novices hurdle at 4.40pm and has a good chance while it is great for Rian Corcoran to be riding in the green and gold silks of J P McManus in the lucky last.  He rides Last Kingdom in the conditional and amateur handicap hurdle at 5.15pm for Faye Bramley and again while fiercely competitive and the horse has not been in the best form of late, he does have some good past form in the book and there has been a little bit of money for him.  He wears a first time tongue strap and is now 22/1 so I hope he has a nice each way chance.

There were wins in the football last night for Aston Villa and Crystal Palace while Nottingham Forrest got a draw in their first leg away match so all the teams are in a good position ahead of the second leg quarter final matches.  Premiership football action returns this evening and West Ham are at home to Wolves at 8pm.

Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns lead the field after round one of The Masters golf at Augusta.  On -5 they have a two shot lead over the field and now Rory has his nose in front I think he could be a hard man to pass.  Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry all had good opening rounds as well and are not too far off the pace.

Before the internet, people would take your order over the phone, write down and address and deliver a pizza to your home in less than 30 minutes by using a paper map like some sort of mystical land pirate!

Have a great Friday!