It’s the third day of the festival and fingers crossed we can have a good day today.
We send two forward in the opening handicap hurdle over 2m and the pair are very much at the bottom of the weights. GORDONS AURA and BY YOUR SIDE both get 4yo allowances here but aren’t too far away on ratings. By your side ran a fantastic race in Cheltenham latest and was denied by some more race hardened competitors. This is a very similar race where we will be claiming with Danny Gilligan taking off 7lbs. Gordons Aura has done nothing wrong all season and should be well placed here to be competitive.
For the Grade B Pigsback.com handicap chase we have HOLLOW GAMES, CALL ME LYREEN and THE GREEK. Hollow Games was a little bit disappointing the last day in Cheltenham but has been dropped a few pounds for that performance. He is a classy horse and shouldn’t be forgotten about and Danny Gilligan has been booked to ride and claims 7lbs. Call Me Lyreen is one who can spring a surprise in these types of races and hopefully today can be another one of those days. It was great to see The Greek win last time out up in Down Royal. This will be a tougher assignment here and Corey has been booked to ride and claims 7lbs.
The famous La Touche is the next race on the card where we have MORTAL who has become a cross country specialist. He is a nimble sort with plenty of experience now and his trusted partner Jody McGarvey has been booked to ride.
We have two of the hottest staying chasers in the game at the moment with TEAHUPOO and SIRE DU BERLAIS. Teahupoo was unlucky not to get closer in Cheltenham and the result was reversed and then reversed again. He has the benefit of not going to Aintree and should be in good sorts for this, Darragh O’Keeffe takes the ride. Our golden oldie Sire Du Berlais knows no bounds at the minute and throws his hat in to try and score a stayers triple crown. Mark knows Sire better than anyone and hopefully this dream team have another good run but most importantly get home safe.
In the Grade B Conway Piling Handicap Hurdle we have AU FLEURON and Level Neverending won’t be running as first reserve. Au Fleuron has been dropped a few pounds after his Aintree exploits and may need to go a bit further. We have decided to claim off him with Danny Gilligan taking off 7lbs.
Rounding up the day is BETTER DAYS AHEAD in the bumper. This horse got no run in cheltenham and is better than that. The improving ground here should really help him and he has Harry Swan booked to ride who can claim 5lbs.
