Best Horses from the Grand National
Ed Quigley aka ‘Longshot Ted’ looks back at recent events, and gives us his horses for the notebook from the Aintree Festival
Nusret
Joseph O’Brien’s charge finished third in the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle on the opening day of the meeting, chasing the shadows of Zenta and Bo Zenith. Held up in last place for the majority of the race, Daryl Jacob tried to swoop late doors from off a moderate pace.
The result was that the first two home stole a march on Nusret who picked up a lot of pieces from the rear but failed to reel in the leaders. If having another crack at it again, Jacob may have wished he pushed the button sooner as the gelding finished with plenty of gas still in the tank.
The duo could have perhaps benefitted from a stronger gallop, and the ground would have been as soft as he would have wanted it. He is a strong traveler who enjoys proper spring ground, so look out to see if connections give him another spin over hurdles before they call it quits for the season.
On the quick ground and a flat track, the Adonis Hurdle winner has the potential to still make a splash.
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Kiltealy Briggs
Jamie Snowden’s representative was beaten 52 lengths by the time they crossed the line in the Topham Chase last Friday, but that doesn’t tell the full story. The 9-year-old jumped and traveled superbly for a long way on the rain-softened ground until emptying during the hard yards.
He attacked his fences with aplomb and even survived being knocked sideways four from home and lost a shoe. In such a hectic race it looks as though he didn’t stay in conditions that had ended up becoming more attritional than perhaps connections envisaged when declaring him.
I have no doubt he remains well handicapped, and on the better ground over 2m4f he can land a decent prize. It will be fascinating if they have a tilt at a decent Handicap Chase over the summer months – he is one to keep onside and could go off at a big price next time out.
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Springwell Bay
It wasn’t the smoothest of passages for Springwell Bay in the Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on Friday who was nearly brought down on the 7th flight. He lost plenty of momentum as a consequence and was always playing catch-up afterward.
It is possible this was too much too soon for him in regards to stepping up in class, as he was in deep waters here compared to previous assignments. After that incident, his jumping went to pieces and he seemed to lose confidence, trailing in a well-beaten sixth.
However, I would be prepared to give him another chance and possibly look to exploit his handicap mark as I think the signs were there that the horse has a serious engine. Keep a look out for what connections plan with him next, as a return to the winner’s enclosure won’t be far away.
It will be fascinating to see if an attempt at 3m is on the radar – he is learning to settle nicely, and his pedigree suggests that 3m wouldn’t necessarily be against him.
Capodanno
The 7-year-old was pulled-up in the Grand National, but jumped and travelled with menace throughout. Three-quarters of a mile from home he was still traveling well sitting just off the leaders, until emptying three fences from home after being called upon for an effort by Danny Mullins.
For a horse who is still relatively light on experience over fences, he can still have a bright future back in distance and returning to conventional fences. It isn’t hard to see him playing a big part in next season’s top 3m Chases, or if connections opted to keep him on the go (considering he has had a light campaign), something like the Galway Plate off top weight would look the type of encounter he could really land a blow in.
Keep him in the tracker, as there are plenty of fun days to be had with the son of Manduro in the future, and maybe with a better preparation next season, he may have a better chance of seeing out the marathon trip should connections wish to go down the Grand National route once again.
Shakem Up’Arry
To my mind, Shakem Up’Arry didn’t stay the 3m1f distance in the Handicap Chase on Saturday.
It was the 9-year-old’s first attempt at the trip and after traveling well for a long way, he emptied in the closing stages. He did similar at the Cheltenham Festival when his run just petered out over 2m4f on testing ground.
He was fine on a quicker surface when winning over 2m3f at Exeter earlier in the season. I think placing him will be hard, but either two-and-a-half miles on decent ground, or the minimum trip in a bog will be right up his street, and a return to the winner’s enclosure won’t be far away granted his ideal conditions.
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Don’t forget to check out Ed’s column for talkSPORT where he previews a cracking card at Cheltenham on Wednesday!
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