Paul Nicholls (Picture Credit: PA)
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls previews his day one Grand National meeting runners – including the return of Bravemansgame (courtesy of https://betting.betfair.com/horse-racing/)
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Thursday marks day one of the Grand National meeting at Aintree and Betfair ambassador Paul Nicholls sends six runners to the north west on day one
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Stable star Bravemansgame is back in action having finished fifth in last month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup
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Nicholls has high hopes for runner Ginny’s Destiny in the opening race of the first day at 1.45
Aintree
1.45 – Ginny’s Destiny
He’s made giant strides since joining us this season, winning three times at Cheltenham before another cracking run when second to Grey Dawning in the Turners at the Festival. He will love the ground at Aintree and is in good shape.
As with all of ours who ran at Cheltenham, no one can tell you for sure how they have come out of their races but they have had a nice, easy fortnight before we started tuning them up again. They did their last piece of work on Saturday and head to Aintree fresh and well.
2.20 – Kalif Du Berlais
He’s a horse with a big future and maintained his unbeaten record with a determined success in the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton under a 5lb penalty. It was always the plan to miss the Triumph Hurdle and wait for this race at Aintree.
We’ve deliberately given him time and although this is a step up in class for him, he seems to be improving physically and I think he is in better shape than he was before his last run.
2.55 – Bravemansgame
Things haven’t quite gone to plan for Bravemansgame this season. He hated the testing conditions at Cheltenham and it was clear from an early stage in the Gold Cup that he wasn’t handling them. The flat track at Aintree will suit him better and the ground shouldn’t be as deep as at Cheltenham.
We are putting cheekpieces on Bravemansgame to help sharpen him up. It’s something we almost tried last time. His regular rider Scott Marshall was very pleased with the way he worked on Saturday morning.
4.05 – Cap Du Mathan
He bounced back to form with an easy success down in grade last time at Leicester where he hacked up. He should give my daughter Olive a great spin over the National fences and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him run tidily.
Although he would also probably prefer better ground it was very testing at Leicester.
4.40 – Sans Bruit
New to us this season he has plenty of decent form on soft ground in France and looked set to win over fences at Chepstow recently until he was caught close home.
He has been raised 3lb since then but is 2lb out of the handicap so is effectively running off his correct mark. He seems to be coming back to form and a fast run race round a tight track like Aintree will suit him very well.
5.15 – Jubilee Alpha
She made the perfect start to her career with a fluent success in a mares’ bumper at Wincanton where she was always prominent and strong at the finish. The first two that day looked smart and she deserves her chance in this better grade.
