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| Punter's Diary by Malcolm Heyhoe |
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| Updated: 26th March 2008 - GG.com |
April's Twin Delights
April matters in only two ways for punters. Firstly, the mystique of the Grand National meeting remains as strong as ever while this is also the month when the turf Flat season starts to hit full stride with Newmarket’s informative Craven meeting lighting the blue touch-paper to a variety of hopes and dreams for the months ahead.
In 2007 the Grand National was moved temporarily from its traditional spot on the first Saturday of that month to a later starting date. Happily for all concerned the meeting is back where it belongs at the beginning of the month and the three-day bonanza of high-class action begins on Thursday, April 3.
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The main attraction on the first day is sure to be the Betfair Bowl Chase over 3m 1f and this valuable prize may well go the way of Gungadu, who has been earmarked for this contest after thrilling victories at Sandown and Kempton in a pair of well-contested handicaps. His high cruising speed and slick jumping should make him hard to beat while Irish challenger Mister Top Notch could
well supply the sternest test of Gungadu’s credentials.
Later on the opening day watch out for any horses that ran well in Cheltenham’s
Grand Annual Chase while in the John Smith’s Anniversary 4yo Novices’ Hurdle both Binocular and Pierrot Lunaire could re-stage their earlier Kempton shoot-out with the former fancied again to come out on top.
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On the second day – April 4 – the highlight has to be the John Smith’s Melling Chase and this race could become a re-match between Monet’s Garden, the winner in 2007 and the vanquished Gold Cup hero Kauto Star. The former is perfectly at home on this flat course and might just edge the verdict while plenty of top-class two-milers have stepped up successfully in trip and that scenario would bring Voy Por Ustedes, the 2008 Queen Mother Champion Chase runner-up, into the picture.
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The daunting
Aintree fences come into play for the John
Smith’s Topham Chase and the advice
here is to side with a sound-jumping and experienced campaigner which
brings Natal into play for Paul Nicholls while in the Sefton
Novices’ Hurdle the
brilliant Tazbar faces a stern challenge from Elusive
Dream and Wind Instrument but
should be up to the job.
April 5 features the 2008 John
Smith’s Grand National and this year all eyes will
be upon short-priced favourite Cloudy Lane,
who will be bidding to give local owner Trevor Hemmings a second success
in the great race. No horse in the field is as well handicapped as the
eight-year-old but doubts still remain over his stamina for this marathon
trip and his price overall is very poor. Better value surely exists elsewhere.
The Irish boast a wonderful recent record in the famous race and Tom
Taaffe’s Slim Pickings looks their strongest candidate
alongside the dour stayer Chelsea Harbour while
the home challenge is admirably fortified by Simon, another proper stayer
who has been trained all season for the race and Comply Or Die,
the recent Eider Chase winner. All these horses represent excellent alternatives
to Cloudy Lane.
April is also the month when the turf Flat season finally clicks into
gear and the Craven Meeting at Newmarket on April 16 and 17 supplies
the Nell Gwyn and Craven Stakes and
the first serious clues for Classic aspirations will be found in both
these races. On April 16 Pipedreamer is expected to
make his seasonal return in the Earl Sefton Stakes and might well oblige
for John Gosden.
The quest for Classic clues shifts to Newbury on April 19 when the Lane’s
End Greenham Stakes heads
the bill, and backers should study this result closely because several
horses such as Victory Note and Celtic Swing have gone on to land Classics
after winning a Greenham. Over at Ayr on the same day the Scottish Grand National takes
centre stage and northern-trained horses boasts a good profile at the
West of Scotland track and ones to watch out for include Ferdy Murphy’s Noir Et Vert and
Peter Maddison’s Lothian Falcon though the latter
ran poorly at Doncaster the other day.
The curtain comes down on April’s frantic month of action with the traditional mixed jumps and Flat card at Sandown on April 26. Twist Magic should make amends for a dismal second half of the season by landing the Celebration Chase on the Esher slopes while Ungaro is a strong fancy for the Sandown Gold Cup (once the Betfred and formerly the Whitbread). Keith Reveley’s useful young chaser will miss the Grand National in order to compete for the big end of season prize.
Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips
Archive March 2008
