Aintree Saturday review and free video replays
Gesskille gave trainers Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero a first victory over Aintree’s legendary Grand National fences in the £100,000 BoyleSports Grand Sefton Handicap Chase.
The bold-jumping seven-year-old, carrying 11st 9lb, made the majority of the running under Henry Brooke, and held on to beat the Laura Morgan-trained Percussion by two lengths. Gesskille was the 100/30 favourite. Frere Banbou finished third for the in-form Venetia Williams.
Oliver Greenall, whose family have long been associated with Aintree - his father Lord Greenall is a former chairman of Aintree and won the 1982 Fox Hunters’, and Oliver’s brother Tom took the same race in 2009 - said: “Courses like here and Auteuil seem to suit him - just the once round; he seems to get a bit sick of a tighter track and not enjoy it so much. He was quite sour when we first got him - he’s by Network and they can be a bit tricky, and they start racing quite young in France, and he likes something to brighten him up, like these fences.
“After finishing agonisingly close last year [when finishing a close second in both this race and the BoyleSports Becher Chase], winning this is more like a relief, really. The blinkers have definitely improved him. He needs to go up a bit more in the handicap to get into the Grand National, but he could be a contender. I’m not sure he needs the ground that heavy - he’s run on all sorts, really. At Auteuil when he won they were still calling the ground soft, because they always do, but it was actually pretty quick.
“Josh does most of the entries, so he’ll have a look through and make a plan. We were thinking about going back to France in the early spring - he might just have a break now and go back there. With a reduced field in the National, he needs to go up a fair bit more to get in. He won’t go to the Becher - that was probably the wrong thing to do. Obviously he ran well, but he needed a bit of time after that.
“This is our local track and it was the first racecourse I ever came to. I was second here - beaten by a neck - and it’s lovely to have a winner on the National fences.
“When we first got Gesskille from France, we didn’t think a lot of him - he doesn’t show you a lot at home - and we just went hunter chasing with him. That sparked an interest in him - a lower grade, and he seemed to really enjoy it. We went back over regulation fences last year, and he didn’t seem to like it.”
This was a second winner over the Grand National fences for jockey Henry Brooke - he won the Becher Chase in 2015 on Highland Lodge.
Brooke said: “I’m absolutely made up. He’s just a pleasure to ride. It’s one of them - you get rides over these fences, and depending on what you’re riding, you either worry for a week or you don’t, and he’s not at all like that. He’s a gentleman - he looks after me round there.
“He’s like a yard pony - you wouldn’t even know he’s around, but he’s a pleasure to do anything with. We’ve had great days with him - France, round here, and he’s a horse who’s very consistent in his races.
“Josh and Olly - massive thanks to them. I’ve been plagued with a few injuries throughout my career and every time I’ve been injured, they are so loyal. The first day I’m back, I’m straight into that number one role and for a jockey that’s something that fills you full of confidence. They support me, they’ve got a lot of faith in me and I’ve got a lot of faith in them.
“That was beautiful ground there today, and it just shows that you really want the Grand National on that side of it; definitely the soft side of good, at least. It just slows the whole race up. I know there were only 10 runners, but it does just make it so much easier because you can’t physically go too fast.
“Moving the first fence will help, for sure. And everyone’s trying - from an outside perspective, whether you agree with the race or not, it’s not like we are refusing to try to make it better. We are welcoming input into the whole thing. It’s a great race, and through the jockeys, the trainers and the racecourse, everyone is doing their bit to try to make it as safe as possible.”
Gary Adams, a member of The Nevers Racing Partnership I who own Gesskille, was almost overcome with emotion. He said: “I’m from Liverpool and this is just so special. The horse loves the course and the bigger the fences, the better for him. This is the first race Olly and Josh have won over the National fences, so whatever happens now, we’re history makers, and this is just a great day.”
Balboa floors rivals
West Balboa (8/11 favourite) made a striking seasonal debut when coming home the 12-length winner of the BoyleSports Acca Boost On Horse Racing Hurdle under Harry Skelton.
Winning trainer Dan Skelton said: “That was a gritty and probably necessary performance if she is going to take a step forward as she was the younger one in the field and getting weight from Brewin'upastorm, who has obviously danced all the big dances and maintained a high level of form. We needed to see she had stepped forward and to beat a horse like him in what was effectively a Graded race makes me very happy.
“This time of year. horses are going to need a run and Harry said she took a blow. She had been working nicely at home although as a stayer they are never going to burn the gallop up. Last year she improved a great deal from her first run and I hope she can from this.
“I’m not sure where we’ll go next. She’ll get an entry in the Long Walk (at Ascot) and see what the opposition looks like and also the Relkeel on New Year’s Day (at Cheltenham). We’d like to get her to Cheltenham this year and I’m confident she’ll be a more comfortable horse at three miles in the spring.”
“To win at my own track with my own son riding, and my grandchildren here - it doesn’t get better than this!” exclaimed Liverpool-based owner John Neild after Josh The Boss took the opening BoyleSports Supports Safer Gambling Week EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle.
Josh The Boss, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and the 6/4 favourite, made all under John Neild’s amateur jockey son Jamie to score by a length and three-quarters from Magical King. The four-year-old now has a record of two wins from two starts over hurdles, having won at Warwick on 5th October.
Neild continued: “It’s hard to win these races with a penalty, and he’s gone and done it even with four hurdles removed [due to low sun]. I can’t believe it - I’m thrilled. He’s a dream of a horse to own.”
He joked: “Jamie did alright - I might jock him off for Sam [Twiston-Davies] next time!”
This was 28-year-old Jamie’s seventh winner under Rules. Formerly a promising young footballer who was picked up by Liverpool as a teenager, Jamie turned to racing when he was 18 after football “fizzled out”.
He said: “I think football helped me with balance, coordination, which meant I picked up the riding straightaway and it went from there.”
His father added: “He’s had a hard time, Jamie, and this horse has put him back on the map a bit. He got his conditional licence and rode his first winner on the Friday and we got locked down because of Covid on the Monday, and it just wrecked his conditional career.”
Jamie, who started on the Flat with Andrew Balding, was based in Maryland, USA last year, and made the decision to give up his conditional licence and ride as an amateur this season.
“When I came back this year I decided to take a bit of a back step and switch from conditional to amateur and am just focused on our horses now. We’ve got a good team at Nige’s and I’m riding out there a couple of days a week and keeping an eye on whatever’s going on. Hopefully we’ve got a good team of horses to go to battle with,” he said.
“I’m living back up here in Liverpool now, and days like today, the cheers and shouts I get from the crowd - I know a lot of people here, so although I’m an Everton supporter rather than a Liverpool supporter, everyone sticks together.
“This is the biggest stage and since I first came into the sport at 18, 19, my aim wasn’t to be champion jockey, it was to ride a winner here at Aintree. I’ve got the photo now and the grandkids will never know what day it was on!
“I’m over the moon. Since we started, it’s always been to try to get a winner at Aintree - that’s always been the dream, and we’ve done it and no one can take it away from us.
“This horse is an absolute pro. He’s only four, so he’s still a puppy, you know, and it’s kind of unusual for four-year-olds to be doing what he’s doing and you have to keep that in mind without getting too excited. He’s still growing and he’s got to strengthen up still, so we’ll take it race by race and won’t be too hard on him this year at all. He’s hopefully got a long career ahead of him, so you might only see him two or three times this season.”
Russell on target with Giovinco
Dual Randox Grand National-winning trainer Lucinda Russell collected another Aintree victory when 5/6 Favourite Giovinco made amends for unseating his rider at Carlisle last month on his first start over fences by winning the BoyleSports Best Odds Guaranteed Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase under Stephen Mulqueen.
Mulqueen said: “I suppose we had a little mishap the first day, so first and foremost we wanted a clear round. He was a little slow over the first fence so I just wanted to get him popping away. He took me there quite easy [to the front] and I was a bit worried when I saw a set of cheekpieces come to me, but he’d been there without a fence for quite a long time - if the fences were there, he’d have probably been more impressive. He’s got loads of gears and ability, and we’ve always thought very highly of him.”
Assistant trainer Michael Scudamore said: “Back on track. What happened the other day was frustrating, rather than anything else. He showed the engine was still there today, and with that weight [11st 10lb] and those conditions, it looked a good performance. He’s certainly put any questions in our heads to bed.
“He’s a beautiful-looking horse, very athletic, owned by a great bunch of people and has got plenty of nice targets to look forward to off the back of that. He obviously stays very well.”
Arms bounces back
Gentleman At Arms has overcome a back problem, and returned to the winner’s enclosure for the first time since March 2022 to delight trainer Stuart Edmunds.
The grey six-year-old took the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle qualifier under Ciaran Gethings at 9/1 from Iwilldoit.
Edmunds said: “My daughter Harriet kept saying he was very sore in his back, and she used to massage him and God knows what else. We X-rayed him and he’s got quite a few kissing spines [where the spinous processes in a horse’s back are very close together or touching], so he’s had them medicated. He never showed any signs of it in that most horses who have had that problem lose muscle on their back, and he was still a ball of a horse, so good on Harriet. Someone’s got to tell Dad what to do! He’s travelled much better today and he’s a much happier horse - I think that has made a lot of difference.
“He was second here in the [Grade 1] Sefton Novices’ Hurdle [at the Grand National Festival in 2022], and he probably overachieved there. He was a fresh horse against tired horses from Cheltenham, and it’s taken a while for him to get back to where he can be competitive again. I ran him over fences and probably scared him a bit - he’s not overly big and it might have just frightened him a little bit.
“I doubt he’d get into the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham, but there’ll be some nice handicaps for him. He can go on better ground than this, as well. He’s a very versatile horse. He’s done us well.
Gethings added: “He’s been quite disappointing since his good run here at the Festival two years ago, and today we just changed it up a bit. After half a mile here, he felt like a different horse. He travelled well, he always went through the ground really well - it was just pretty smooth, to be honest. I held on to him as long as I could and just had one go, and I was very pleased. He’s a very good jumper.
“We’ve had one run this year, which probably stood us in good stead over Sam’s horse [Iwilldoit, second]. I’m delighted for [owner] Diana [Gardiner], as well, as he hasn’t won since her partner Barry passed away. It’s a good day all round.”
