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14:25 Aintree The trio of Robbie Power, Colin Tizzard and the Potts family have been on fire over the past 48 hours at Aintree and it doesn’t look set to change here on day three. The well fancied and well talked about Finian’s Oscar arrives here undefeated after skipping the Cheltenham Festival. Despite a slight injury setback he’ll be fresher than most of his rivals and looks by far the one to beat. I was massively impressed with the way that six year old grey Brio Conti ran away from his rivals in a decent looking handicap at Kempton last time out. He’s barely put a foot wrong in his career to date but this is a massive step up in competition. To me he has a touch of class and in all honesty if it wasn’t for the well fancied favourite I couldn’t see this one being beaten. My advice would be to grab the Paul Nicholls runner for an each way bet if you can get anything like 11/2 or better in the betting but considering he represents a powerhouse yard the likelihood of bookmakers being that generous is slim to none. An honourable mention has to go to Messire Des Obeaux who looks a very consistent performer who can mix it with the best but looks to probably have a better chasing career in time. At much bigger prices Bel Ami De Sivola will be much more at home on a better surface and should do well and Bordeaux Bill has enough potential to run a more superior race than his price would elude to. FINIAN’S OSCAR (WIN)
15:00 Aintree This year’s renewal of the Maghull Novices Chase is select field with only five runners, but there is still a number of chances within that with all, but one of the runners having some sort a chance. Champion trainer Paul Nicholls sends a pair of contenders here in San Benedeto and Politologue. The former comes here seeking a four timer after landing three handicap chases as well as two novice contests already in his career over the timber, and there is no doubt he has a big chance here, but the stable’s best chance may lie with his stablemate. Politologue is a fascinating contender for the yard given that he tries the 2m trip for the first time today over fences. The horse was a winner at the trip over hurdles, but has so far stuck to 2m4f over the larger obstacles including when a solid fourth behind the impressive pair of Top Notch and Yorkhill at the Cheltenham festival. He looked that day like the step back in trip should be right up his alley and he looks a rock solid selection at an each way price so gets the nod. Of the others, Kim Bailey’s brave Charbel is the obvious danger after serving it up for a long way to the impressive Altior in the Arkle at Cheltenham, but he did look flat out that day when falling and could be a vulnerable favourite and is easily overlooked at an odds on price. POLITOLOGUE (E/W)
15:40 Aintree What looks a mightily competitive contest with eighteen set to go to post and yet I can’t see past the one horse. Starchitect may only be six years old but he’s mixed it with the best in handicap hurdling over the past few years and has started to put it right now that he’s going over bigger obstacles. Well fancied for the Brown Advisory Chase at this years Cheltenham Festival he finished a positive fifth and looked as if he was crying out for this step up in trip. I know you can’t really be overly confident about a horse in an eighteen runner race but I’m as confident as you can be. After such a glowing endorsement for the Tom Scudamore ridden horse it’s hard to say what horses are likely to trouble him but never the less I’ll try my best to do so. Emerging Force is well fancied by many to run a big race and with the addition of blinkers for the first time could spark further improvement, my concern however is that he has only ever faced a field of six or less in his three chase starts and there seems too many questions to answer for the favourite. Value At Risk is a horse that looks to pose a threat and one I fear more than the aforementioned Harry Whittington runner. A very good hurdler on his day who, if he can transfer half of that form to chasing he’ll give his competition a lot to think about. A trio of outsiders worth taking a second look at are Sizing Codelco, Full Cry and Lamb Or Cod. Sizing Codelco didn’t show his best at Cheltenham but if he can recapture the form he displayed earlier in the season he could do well. Full Cry looks very progressive and although he’d need to make a big leap to trouble some of the main protagonists you can’t ignore a Henry De Bromhead runner in big chase handicaps and he wont have flown over here to make up the numbers. Lamb Or Cod is getting on in years and is very inconsistent but with Richard Johnson booked for the ride if he can find something close to his best still in his locker he could grab place money. STARCHITECT (E/W)
16:20 Aintree The Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle over three miles looks set to be contested by the top four in the betting market. Warren Greatrex sends his former World Hurdle winner Cole Harden here today in search of another big prize and he gets his preferred ground for the first time in a while, so expect a bold bid from him this afternoon. He produced another gutsy display in the world hurdle this year, but was once again left well behind in closing stages and will need to turn back the clock here to land the spoils. Supasundae could not have been more impressive when landing the Coral Cup at the festival in taking fashion. He beat Taquin Du Seuil by 2 lengths that day and will likely hold that runner again, but he steps up from a handicap to a grade 1 contest and make just find one too good. The headline maker in this could well be Alan King’s Yanworth. The classy seven year old looked to be crying out for a test in stamina when simply being taking off his feet in the Champion Hurdle. He still holds a record of seven wins from nine starts over hurdles and has long been crying out for this trip. He has the class to serve it up to his rivals here again today and can regain the winning thread here with a confident win. YANWORTH (WIN)
GRAND NATIONAL TIPS
[wpsm_comparison_table id=”4″ class=””] Odds from Oddschecker.com as of 9:00 Saturday 8th April
HOW WE RATE ALL RUNNERS AND RIDERS
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