Saturday was not the best of days for the blog, with none of the 3 selections being successful. I set myself high standards as a tipster as I know that many of the readers of the blog base their wagers on what I write. As such, I'm more than a little disappointed in the results from Saturday.
My opinion of the ground at Aintree was that it was probably more soft than good-to-soft, and that was reflected in the result of the opening race. My selection IFANDBUTWHYNOT was out on his feet from the 2nd-last hurdle and had little more to give in the final quarter-mile. Whereas the winner Karinga Dancer absolutely romped home making full use of the stamina he possesses. It should also be noted that the runner-up Bygones Of Brid, likes a bit of cut in the ground to show his best and it is a shame this talented gelding hasn't had a better race career.
My second selection at Aintree was SAVED BY JOHN, and jumping the 2nd-last he looked like he had the race in the bag being some 6-lengths clear and running-on strong. Unfortunately, he was probably in front a bit too early and lost his concentration. He was collared on the run-in by the very experienced chaser Rossini's Dancer, having his 26th chase race. The winner had already had the benefit of a run this season, which he'd won ; and the combination of race fitness and conceding 12lbs to the winner was what did for SAVED BY JOHN ultimately. This was unfortunate, as the opening odds of 4/1 was good value about him and, had he been pushed by a rival such as Gansey up to the final fence, then I'm sure he'd have held on and won. Whether we'll get similar value NTO is doubtful as his promise has been exposed now.
The final selection was MAJALA at Chepstow. I really did think the winner Sire De Grugy would struggle to concede 11lbs to MAJALA who I thought to be unexposed. The one thing I did know beforehand was that the Nicholls horse Rebel Rebellion was a false favourite – the Paul Nicholls horses just are not firing at the moment. Could be MAJALA wants softer ground to show his best, but Sire De Grugy was most certainly the better horse on Saturday by a long way.
So then, 3 selections and 3 losers for the blog. What's worse, I even had a further personal wager on WISHFUL THINKING when he drifted to 7/1. I really did think this horse was weighted to win, but his jumping was atrocious. Soft ground was no problem for him so I can only think he wasn't in the mood for racing. He did recover from some early mistakes to look like getting back into contention but he was badly hampered by the favourite Walkon at the 4th last fence (when that one blundered thru' the fence and lost his rider), and that was the final nail in his coffin.
Despite the losers, the blog is still showing a healthy profit for the jumps season. This time last year, we had yet to have the first blog selection, which was placed on 2nd November. As such, we are well ahead of schedule and last season was my best yet as a horseracing blogger.
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