4 Runners At Aintree

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with flat cards from York, Newbury, Newmarket and Hamilton as well as a jumps card from Aintree.  It will be a busy day for the stable with four runners at Aintree tonight...it will be a late one too with the runners contesting the last three races.  Van Gogh du Granit contests the 3m1f handicap chase at 7.45pm and he bolted up at Market Rasen last week.  He is turned out again under a penalty and is 2lbs ahead of the handicapper.  Despite the small field, it is a competitive contest and we look to have a chance at odds of around 4/1.  Regular rider David Noonan is in the saddle.  We run Three Star General and Timeforben in the 3m handicap hurdle at 8.20pm and they both go well on a sound surface.  Timeforben is on a mark of 126 as a consequence of a productive campaign last season and she ran better than her finishing position would suggest last time at Cheltenham after a break - she is ridden by Tom Scudamore.  David Noonan takes the ride aboard Three Star General who has been knocking on the door - both should go well at decent odds.

Our final runner is Mount Nelly who contests the bumper at 8.50pm.  She finished a close third in a point-to-point bumper behind Bird On The Wire and was a creditable fourth at Exeter on her rules debut.  She is 10/1 in the Post and has small each-way claims.

Madness are playing after racing which will be a good gig, so it will be interesting to see if the trainer decides to venture north today.

Legal History finished runner-up at Perth yesterday afternoon, beaten only a neck under topweight.  He led over the last but was just collared on the run-in.  He continues in good form and can win again, whilst he also has the option of reverting to the flat at some point.  He picked up another £2,600 yesterday and has certainly proved a real money-spinner for his owners and given them a lot of fun.  It was lady's day at the track and the good weather brought about a sell-out crowd which is good news.

Over at York, Telecaster ran out a good winner of the Dante (historically the best Derby Trial), dashing the Classic hopes of Too Darn Hot who finished second.  The winner will have to be supplemented if he is to take his chance at Epsom, whilst the runner-up will now revert to one mile with a trip to Royal Ascot on the agenda.

*****

What a round of golf from Brooks Koepka who shot a PGA record round of 63 (7 under par) on the tricky looking Bethpage Black course.  He is 9 shots ahead of his playing partner Tiger Woods after the first round.  It is vital to keep the ball on the fairway - just off of it and the ball sinks down too much...come on Brooks!

I see that bad tempered Aussie tennis player Nick Kyrgios is out of the Italian Open after another bust-up on court.  He swore at a line judge before kicking a bottle, throwing his racket and eventually a chair.  He walked off court before the umpire had even had the chance to disqualify him.  I don't think I would like to upset him!

*****

Thought for the day...why is there an expiry date on sour cream?!  Have a great day...

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