AINTREE FESTIVAL 2018
Day 1 – Grand National Thursday
Thursday 12 April
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Picture of the Day
Grand Vision ridden by Mr Jamie Codd ... You will notice that all three of the Aintree
blog photos I’ve chosen this year are
greys ... just like me!!! This year, for the first time, I decided to
travel up to Merseyside on Wednesday afternoon rather leave home at 05:30 on
the Thursday morning. My route,
however, was the same as always ... and even included a visit to the Burtonwood Service station on the M62, despite this being
slightly ‘off piste’! I left home at 12:45, travelling via Harpenden
Common to join the M1 at Junction 9; the motorway was busy, initially, but I
made good time, leaving at Junction 23A.
The motorway conditions had been misty on the section just before
this, due to light rain. There were
currently road-works at various points along the road which travels beside
the M1 to Junction 24, also at the roundabout itself. I briefly thought about dropping into Donnington Services to spend a penny ... but just
couldn’t be asked! I headed along the A50; road-works were still
being carried out close to the JCB factory at Uttoxeter,
as they had been last year too. There
were signs along the latter section of the dual carriageway, warning drivers
to take care as there had been a number of serious accidents involving cars
and lorries; it’s a very popular route, travelled at speed. Having reached the outskirts of Stoke, I followed
the dual carriageway through the underpass and continued to the traffic
lights where I turned left in order to join the M6 at Junction 15. It was far quieter than it would have been
the following morning at 08:00! I continued my journey up the northbound carriageway,
over the Mersey bridge, to Junction 21A.
There was a 50mph speed limit in place between Junctions 16 and 19, as
it was being upgraded to a ‘Smart’
motorway. I then headed westwards,
towards Liverpool, along the M62 in order to visit the Burtonwood
Services. It’s only a couple of
junctions along, a maximum of 4 or 5 miles.
I went to the loo and then visited to petrol station to top up the
tank of my car. I retraced my route back towards the M6, but left
at Junction 9 hoping to find my way across country to Golborne. However, the route wasn’t obvious and I
ended up instead on a dual-carriageway leading to Junction 22 of the M6. I re-joined the motorway, before leaving
again at Junction 23. I then headed
eastwards along the A580, for a short distance to reach the hotel at Stone
Cross. I arrived at 16:50. Having booked in, it took approximately 6 trips
to unload my belongings from my car; I find it impossible to travel
light! My friend Sandra had already
booked in so, after a friendly chat, we headed to dinner at 19:30 in the
adjacent restaurant; I chose haddock and chips and a lemon trifle today. I was quite restless during the night; I think
the quilt made me too warm. Having set
the alarm for 06:00, I was ready to go to breakfast with Sandra at the
arranged time of 07:15. As I was in
room 111 this year, which I’ve occupied at least once before, it was my turn
to ‘collect’ my friend who was in
room 101. We set off for the racecourse at 09:50 today, in
Sandra’s car; it takes 35 minutes to get there. Having been cleared through security within
the Steeplechase car park, we were directed to park near the far end of the
field. A section of the area where
vehicles would normally be parked was cordoned off; perhaps it had become boggy
due to the persistent rain in recent weeks. Having walked to the entrance, we were asked to
join the back of a stationary queue whilst workers were checked in. I thought the gates would open at 10:30 ...
but they didn’t let us in until 11:20!
It was breezy today, but fortunately it wasn’t raining otherwise we’d
have been soaked by this time. Having
cleared security once more, we travelled via an Arriva bus to the drop-off
point opposite the grandstands. Having reached the main concourse behind the
stands, it took us a while to track down someone selling race-cards. We then purchased bottles of water and
visited the little girls’ room before heading to the steppings
below the Weighing Room. We like
standing here, just watching the world go by ... Today we saw, amongst others, AP McCoy, Ruby
Walsh, Nick Luck, Dave Yates, Jonathan Neesom, the
lovely Tom Stanley, Dave Nevison, the BHA’s Nick
Rust, Tom Scudamore with
his two daughters, Luke Harvey, Harry Derham, Derek
Thompson, Oli Bell, Oliver Sherwood, Cornelius Lysaght, Alan King, Guy Disney, and RUK’s Gordon
Brown. At one point, Ruby took off at
speed, despite having to use crutches and wear a protective boot on his
injured leg. Unusually, past Grand National winners were
paraded on each of the three days.
With many of the past winners having passed away in recent years, or
being unable to travel due to infirmity, there were only six this year – Bindaree, Mon Mome, Neptune Collonges, Pineau De Re and
Rule The World; Silver Birch missed today’s parade as he’d already done a
stint on the concourse when opening the new Silver Birch Bar! For the first time, there was an Opening Ceremony
too. The Red Devils dropped in,
eventually; the cloud base was low and it had delayed the parachutists as a
result. In fact the horses taking part
in the first race were already at the starting gate by the time they
arrived! A singer named Laura Wright
performed too. Accepting the new Grand National trophy, on
course from the Red Devils, was Kenny Dalglish; that
made Sandra’s day! Kenny was also
interviewed by ITV Racing’s Oli Bell ... Ed
Chamberlain jokingly asked his colleague if he understood a word of what the
former footballer/manager had said, so strong was his Glaswegian accent! The first race of the day had just six runners;
the favourite was the Paul Nicholls-trained Cyrname
ridden by Sean Bowen; price 2-1. It came as a complete surprise that Finian’s Oscar won the race, having not jumped fluently
for much of it. In fact he’d dropped
back to last place and was being ridden along at one point! It must have been his hurdling speed which
got him through and, of course, the excellent ride from jockey Robbie
Power. Robbie is a brilliant jockey! However, there was no surprise that Brain Power
fell; at the 8th fence.
The favourite for the second race was Apple’s Shakira, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Barry Geraghty; price 13-8.
However, she finished a disappointing 3rd despite wearing a first-time
hood today. We Have A Dream, also trained by Nicky Henderson,
claimed the prize having missed the Cheltenham Festival due to a minor
setback. He thus remained undefeated
in five starts in the UK, one of which had been a Grade 1 at Chepstow in
January.
The Nicky Henderson-trained, Nico
de Boinville ridden Might Bite started as favourite for the Bowl Chase; price 4-5. He proved that his runner-up spot in what would
have been an attritional Cheltenham Gold Cup had
taken little out of him and he cruised home to win by 7 lengths.
The favourite for the next was Supasundae, trained by Jessica Harrington and ridden by
Robbie Power; price 11-10. He’d
finished as runner-up in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the
Cheltenham Festival and was stepping down in trip today. However, it was the Nicky Henderson-trained L’Ami Serge, ridden by Daryl Jacob which won. Unfortunately he’s not a horse you can rely
upon, given the number of times he’s flattered to
deceive ... although he did win the French Champion Hurdle last summer!
The favourite for this race was the beautiful grey
Grand Vision, trained by Colin Tizzard and ridden
by Mr Jamie Codd; price 7-2. Guy Disney became the first amputee to ride over
the Grand National fences. His
adventure didn’t begin auspiciously; his mount, the Kim Bailey-trained
Gallery Exhibition, dumped him in the tunnel when being led out towards the
racecourse! The winner was last year’s runner-up, Balnaslow. Grand
Vision fell at the Canal Turn, and my each way betting selection, Bear’s
Affair, came home just 2½ lengths behind the winner to claim the runner-up
spot. He was priced at 20-1! Guy completed the course, last of those to
finish. Sadly there was one fatality, the only one of
this Festival, when Lilbitluso also fell at the
Canal Turn. L
The favourite for the penultimate race was the
David Pipe-trained King’s Socks, ridden by Tom Scudamore;
price 7-2. He’d finished 5th in the 2 mile 5 furlong Plate
Handicap Chase at Cheltenham but he pulled up before 3 out in this shorter
trip race today. I love Theinval, jockey
Jeremiah McGrath is quite cute too; he finished as runner-up again this year ...
beaten by my each-way selection Bentelimar; price
10-1! It’s a shame I didn’t bet, apart
from on the Grand National itself ...
The favourite for the final race of the day was
Getaway Katie Mai, trained by John Queally and
ridden by Mr Jamie Codd; price 15-8. She duly obliged, although her jockey was
suspended for a literally whacking great 17 days for overuse of his
whip. My selection, the Alan
King-trained Midnightreferendum, whose jockey Wayne
Hutchinson stayed within the whip guidelines, finished just 1¼ lengths behind the winner to claim the runner-up spot at
25-1!!! I had to suffer screams from the connections
whilst watching the race; they were stood immediately beside me. I was also kicked by the flailing legs of
the young girl who was picked up and swung around in celebration. They deserve a ruddy good hiding, just like
their poor horse had to suffer ...
It had been a good day for the home team, with
five of the seven winners, and Nicky Henderson had gained a treble. Wishing to avoid the exit queues on day one, we
stayed to watch a number of the horses go through the Goffs
UK sales ring at the end of the afternoon; as a result we got a clear run
along the driveway to reach the Anchor Bridge. Here are the results of the aforementioned sale: http://www.goffsuk.com/sales-results/sales/the-aintree-sale-2018 Having reached Aintree Lane, stewards seemed keen
to direct us to the left; we were having none of this and decided to do a
u-turn within the nearest residential road in order to head in the opposite
direction, over the canal swing-bridge, to join the A506. This enabled us to join the M57 and travel
just one junction before heading eastwards back along the A580. A horsebox, belonging to Paul Nicholls,
overtook us as we approached the M6 junction ... we were surprised to see it
head onto the northbound carriageway thereof! We arrived back at the hotel 19:20, with dinner
booked for 20:00. Today’s meal was a
vegetable lasagne and Dairy Milk sundae; the service was probably the worst
we’ve ever had, the waiter even forgot to give us a copy of the menu! |
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