King's Aintree Quest

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Aintree and Taunton as well as flat fixtures from Southwell and Chelmsford City.  It is the start of the Grand National meeting from Aintree and the stable has a runner in the 4.40pm race as King's Socks (pictured schooling, above right) contests the 2m handicap chase.  As you would expect, it is a fiercely competitive field with 16 runners, but King's Socks looks to have leading claims having run very well over further at the Cheltenham Festival.  He has 10-13 to carry and stable jockey Tom Scudamore is on board - he had some very good form in France and looks set for a big run here.  The ground looks set to be very testing.

I always enjoy going to the Aintree meeting where we stay with our old friend Gino nearby.  The meeting gets busier as the week goes on and come Saturday the place is packed to the rafters.  It is a completely different atmosphere to that of the Cheltenham Festival - the people of Liverpool are there for a day out, while the Cheltenham racegoers are generally mad keen horse people.  I always enjoy the best dressed competitions they hold at Aintree (although I am yet to win it, amazingly!).  There are plenty of competitions around the paddock and plenty of people who are a bit worse for a drink or two.

The answers to yesterday's quiz:

* Which Scottish mountain won the Grand National in 1980?  Ben Nevis

* How many horses have won the Grand National twice?  7 (Abd-El-Kader, Peter Simple, The Lamb, The Colonel, Manifesto, Poethlyn, Reynoldstown)

* Which horse and jockey who won the Grand National on a Monday?  Lord Gyllene, Tony Dobbin

On to today's questions:

* How many runners have been ridden by female riders in Grand National history?

* Which are the two fences jumped only once in the Grand National?

* Who was the shortest priced winner of the Grand National?

Answers tomorrow...

*****

I see that Newcastle were fined £7,500 after breaking FA rules on advertising.  Their under 18 side wore shirts with a betting company logo on which was against regulations.  Seems a bit strange...I thought you had to be over 18 to have a wager!

*****

Recent research has shown that six out of seven dwarves aren't happy!  Have a nice day...

Tweet