The last flight fall of Arctic Fire in the Aintree Hurdle was strangely reminiscent of last month’s demise of odds-on favourite Annie Power at Cheltenham. Once again it was the Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh combination seemingly set to strike a blow for the punters before disaster struck at the last hurdle.
His departure left the race at the mercy of Jezki and Tony McCoy but the best news was that both horse and rider escaped unscathed. McCoy would later be in the wars himself when Ned Buntline came down in the sixth race. The champion jockey was immediately back up on his feet and able to fling his helmet to the ground in disgust.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for punters with Nina Carberry never giving her supporters an anxious moment when taking the Fox Hunter Chase with On The Fringe. Silviniaco Conti was preferred in the market to Holywell and duly reversed the Cheltenham Gold Cup under Noel Fehily. Punters could have ended the day in profit had Call The Cops held off the late thrust of Taglietelle in the closing handicap hurdle. Bookmakers had little to complain about in the other races with Clarcam (5-1), All Yours (16-1) and Surf And Turf (33-1).
There has been little activity worthy of note in the Grand National market with Shutthefrontdoor a general 7-1 favourite ahead of Rocky Creek and Balthazar King at 10-1 and The Druids Nephew at 14-1. Gordon Elliott will certainly be growing in confidence ahead of Cause Of Causes run in Saturday’s race after a first day double courtesy of Clarcam and Taglietelle.
A few late jockey bookings for the National include Brian Hughes on Ely Brown, Brendan Powell on Royale Knight, Tom Cannon on Wyck Hill and Liam Treadwell on Monbeg Dude. The four reserves have only until 9am tomorrow for any of the top forty to come out.
The best Grand National offers at present are each-way down to sixth place from BetVictor and half of your stake back as a free bet for Bet365 customers (applies to all each-way bets on the National up to a maximum of £125 per customer). If you are intending opening a Coral account, they will pay out on the Grand National winner at treble the odds for new customers. Full details on their respective websites.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
