Aintree Saturday Racing Tips By Dave Stevos
Aintree Saturday Racing Tips
It was another tough day for us on Friday at Aintree. For Pleasure faded late on and he simply wasn’t good enough. Empire Steel unfortunately didn’t handle the ground and he was pulled up. Nuts Well drifted to 14s but landed place money in 2nd despite being badly checked in his run. Kauto Riko was a disaster. He wasn’t suited by the standing start and the race was gone by the second fence. Streets Of Doyen never really travelled and could only manage 4th. I have already posted my three Grand National fancies here. You can check out my Aintree Saturday racing tips for the rest of the live ITV races below…
1.45 – Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3)
24.5f is the trip for the opening race at Aintree, a Grade 3 handicap hurdle. A maximum field of 22 horses will go to post and the one I am interested in at a price is One Night In Milan. Trained in Scotland by Keith Dalgleish, this horse has a very good record over hurdles. He has only finished out of the first three on 3 occasions from 13 starts. Two of his three runs this season were poor but he will be very well suited by the return to a sounder surface today.
He was last sighted running in the Grade 2 Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury. It was no surprise that he found that company too hot. However, he will find life a lot easier back in handicap company. All four of this fella’s wins have come on nice ground, including one over today’s distance at Catterick. His last victory came off 128 back in September 2019 but the run that makes him of interest here was his excellent 2nd over 20f off 138 on his sole previous visit to Aintree.
That was on good to soft ground and he finished just 2L behind the winner. It was arguably a career best but his 1L defeat to Aye Right a couple of months before that at Kelso (21f gd) was another fairly decent effort. This fella has had a nice break since his last run and his record fresh in generally quite good (312P). Billy Garrity claims 3lb so he is effectively 1lb lower than when 2nd here on his last visit. Garrity has 7 wins and 13 top 4 finishes when riding over jumps for Keith Dalgleish. Hopefully he improves that solid record today. At odds of 28/1, One Night In Milan is worth backing e/w.
Aintree Saturday Racing Tips: One Night In Milan e/w @ 28/1 nap (7 Places Skybet)
2.25 – Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
The first live ITV race of the day is this 12 runner Grade 1 hurdle for novices. My Drogo and Ballyadam head the market for Skelton and De Bromhead respectively. The former is unbeaten in three starts over timber and he swerved Cheltenham. Ballyadam has found just Appreciate It too good the last thrice and connections will be hoping they can make the most of his absence from this race. Both horses have obvious chances but the bookies haven’t missed them.
Dreal Deal would be a fairy tale winner for Ronan McNally. He is the flagbearer for this small yard and he landed a heavy ground Grade 2 at Punchestown last time. His rise through the handicap ranks has been one of the feel good stories of the season. He will be a fresh horse after missing Cheltenham with a respiratory issue. The good ground is a worry though and he has to prove he is 100% fit and healthy after his problems. At the odds I’d rather look elsewhere.
Jack A Dark Horse
One horse that could go well at a huge price is Straw Fan Jack. This horse also hails from a small yard. He is trained by part time trainer/full time beauty salon owner/manager Sheila Lewis and he is undoubtedly her stable star. This son of Geordieland has really blossomed this season. After falling on his return he made no mistake on his next start, winning a novice hurdle in good style at Hereford (19f gd/fm). He then stepped into handicap company and was beat a head over 19f at Ascot by Fifty Ball. He was conceding 11lb to that horse who was running off 113. Fifty Ball subsequently finished 2nd in the Betfair Hurdle off 131.
Straw Fan Jack returned to Novice Company on heavy ground at this track over 17f after that run. He absolutely hacked up by 30 lengths and the runner up has gone on to win two novices. Last time at Kempton he was very keen early but he still ran a cracker to finish 2nd over 16f. He is proven on all sorts of ground and the likely strong pace in this contest should suit him. Clearly, he’ll need to improve again in this company but there could easily be more to come from the 6yo. He has won at the track, his run at Kempton should have him spot on and at 40/1 a small e/w interest is advised.
Aintree Saturday Racing Tips: Straw Fan Jack e/w @ 40/1 NB (4 places)
Aintree Saturday racing tips 3.00 – Novices Chase (Grade 1)
This race makes no appeal as a betting heat. Shishkin is long odds on to follow up his Festival win and he is impossible to oppose. The rest of the field are fighting it out for 2nd and with only five runners and 2 places for e/w bets I’ll be sitting this one out. No Bet.
Aintree Saturday Racing Tips: No bet
3.35 – Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
I tipped up Décor Irlandais for the Ballymore in 2020 but the ground was too soft for him. Noel Kelly’s charge is best on nice Spring ground and he is a much better horse than he showed last time out in February. He was beat 17L in that Navan Grade 2 but the heavy ground was totally unsuitable. His last run on a half decent surface saw him score in a handicap off 139 at Killarney (23f yld). Previous to that he ran a blinder over an inadequate trip at the Galway festival, finishing strongly for 4th over 16f.
This horse is best suited by the type of ground he is going to get at Aintree. I am happy to see that Kelly has booked in form Jody McGarvey for the ride as he is in great form at the moment. Still only an 8yo, this horse could still have more to come and with a rating of 149 he wouldn’t need to improve a huge amount to run into a place today. He is a really strong traveller usually so I am hoping that a truly run race is going to play to his strengths. It looks to be between the top two as far as winning goes. However, with 4 places available, Décor Irlandais is the e/w pick at odds of 40/1.
Aintree Saturday Racing Tips: Décor Irlandais e/w @ 40/1 (4 places)
4.15 – Mildmay Handicap Chase (Grade 3)
The last race before the big one is this 25f handicap chase. A field of 14 stayers will be fighting it out for the £56k in prize money and as ever in these type of races, it looks very competitive. The longer I looked at this race, the harder it became to find a bet. Lalor is a horse I love but this trip is an unknown and he has been off a long time. The one I eventually landed on was Calipso Collonges for Olly Murphy and Sean Bowen. This horse is not easy to win with but he has improved for each run this season and he will appreciate the conditions at Aintree.
He was pulled up on his return in the Welsh National over 30f on soft ground. It was a lot better next time in a valuable handicap at Sandown (24f hvy) when he finished a solid 3rd off 130. Last time out he produced an even better effort when beat 4L into 3rd at Ludlow (24f gd/sft). It is hard to argue that he is well handicapped but he carries a feather weight and he has the considerable assistance of Sean Bowen in the saddle. If the first time cheekpieces eke out a bit more improvement he might sneak into the frame at odds of 22/1.
