The pick of the prices on Day 2 at Aintree....

Thursday, 11th April 2024

The pick of the prices on Day 2 at Aintree….

I’m always 24-hours ahead of time on the racing….

…. seeking to beat the market to the punch….

…. and to bag the best of the prices about my selections….

They haven’t even raised the tapes on Day 1 at Aintree….

…. and I’m focused on the handicaps on tomorrow’s card….

If you want my advice for this afternoon’s Red Rum Handicap Chase – you’ll find it here….

Bill Baxter is in at 5s as the favourite for tomorrow’s Topham (4.05)….

He won it last year off just a pound lower….

…. and he gets his ground tomorrow….

…. but – to back him at that price – I’d have to have seen a bit more from him across the winter….

He’s produced little or nothing in five runs – dropping 7lb down the handicap….

A wind-operation in November doesn’t appear to have helped anything….

…. but fav-backers will be hoping (and praying) that tomorrow’s first-time cheekpieces do….

RICHMOND LAKE has simply got to be approaching well-handicapped status again….

…. dropping 7lbs to 143 from a career-high of 150 in three defeats….

It’s debateable whether he should have been that high at all following his win in a race at Aintree in December where none of his opponents were really on it….

His form’s not quite lived up to the billing since….

…. and he’ll need to be a better horse than when last observed at Kelso in February….

But he’s had a break, he’s down to 143….

…. 5lb lower than his hurdle mark….

…. he will handle the underfoot conditions better than a lot of horses tomorrow afternoon….

…. and he makes appeal at the 25s….

MIGHT I at the general 20s & 18s is the one for me in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle (2.20)….

Harry Fry’s 8yo didn’t take to fences earlier in the campaign….

…. and – despite having just one go over timber since last May – his mark over hurdles has dropped 6lb to 140….

That one run came at Cheltenham in March in the Coral Cup….

…. where he made a complete mess of one obstacle relatively early-doors….

…. and never recovered….

The year before that he’d been 4th in the Martin Pipe off a mark of 145….

…. and 2nd in a big-field Cheltenham handicap off 142….

…. both performances which tell you he’s on a potentially lenient mark for this assignment tomorrow….

Connections have always thought he’s got a big one in him….

…. he’s not been over-faced with work this term….

…. and he can run big off 140….

• Finally….

That’s all for today….

I’ll be back tomorrow….

…. with my take on the Saturday action at Aintree….

Meantime – Contact me direct at nick.pullen@oxonpress.co.uk  

And remember – win, lose or draw – enjoy the racing….

Stay tuned….

Against the Crowd