3 minute read

He may be the best hurdler most of us will ever see.

On Thursday in the Aintree Hurdle he scored win #7 and Gr 1 win #6.  He only won by 3 lengths but it was a soft win and over a longer trip. He jumps so beautifully and at the finish looked like he was saying "I enjoyed that and do you want to go round again?".  The runner up was Sharjah 20/1 who was by far the best of the rest and earns a spot in the little black book.  The big question is will he switch to fences next season?

The feature races started off with the Novices' Chase which in a 5 horse race saw Banbridge win from Saint Roi with favourite Stage Star not putting in a favourite's run.

The Jewson Juvenile Hurdle had 9 runners and it went according to script with Zento winning from Bo Zenith.

The Aintree Bowl was a nice win for Shishkin who got the better of Ahoy Senor with A Plus Tard a long way away behind in third.  He's clearly not back to his best.

Friday's Novices' Chase had 6 runners and was won by the short-priced favourite Gerri Colombe with Complete Unknown no longer being a complete unknown after coming second on 8/1 and defeating the Mullins-Townend runner Bronn who got the 3rd money.

The Novices' Hurdle went to Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore and Inthepocket.

Blackmore dropped her whip before the finish and used the reins to urge her horse forward and into the winners' circle.  Strong Leader ran second and our pick Luccia third in a 14 horse field.

The Marsh Chase saw Pic d'Orhy get the bragging rights over Fakir d'Oudairies in the field of 7.