A busy weekend – Aintree and Kelso

’tis the time of year to be busy and it seems that we are with runners planned every day for the next week starting with one at Aintree tomorrow.  A fine day here today but rain expected pretty well everywhere tonight, so the ground may well ease from the present good to soft with soft places.

The more the better for Ned Tanner who faces six rivals in the 13.30; his reappearance run at Kelso was a little underwhelming so we have tweaked one or two things since then and I whilst it is new for him I think the track at Aintree should suit him well.  Trip is perfect if it is soft and he has a handy light weight so hopefully he can make the journey worthwhile – Sean rides.

On to Kelso on Sunday where they have a top class card lined up for Bruce Farms Borders National Day.  Ground should be soft and we are well represented across the card starting with Suspected in the 11.50.  There was a good reason as to why he ran badly on stable debut but tomorrow is all about rebuilding his confidence so its back in trip and a nice run to get his career back on track will more than suffice – 9 run and Bruce rides.

We are double handed in the staying handicap hurdle at 12.20 with Coconut Splash (Kit) and Gaillimh a Stor (Bruce). Coconut made a satisfactory stable debut a month ago at Ayr and should have come on for that, he looks well treated on his old form so any semblance of that would see him involved.

Gaillimh a Stor was a close 3rd in this race a year ago off 2lb lower so whilst he may need more leniency from the handicapper to get his head in front he ought to run well so long as the ground is properly soft – 10 run.

Bennys Jenny makes her stable debut in the 12.55, she hasn’t been in training as long as the rest of the string but should be fit enough to make a start, albeit that we would expect plenty of improvement for it.  The race ticks a lot of boxes in terms of being mares only, the trip etc so it is a fine place to start – Bruce rides and 7 run.

We run Hombre de Guerra in the Richard Landale Handicap Chase at 2:37; named after a dear friend of ours and everyone at Kelso, this valuable contest has attracted an exceptionally strong field of 10 runners for a huge prize.  It is a classy race full of hardened two mile handicappers so it is a big ask for Hombre who is effectively stepping out of novice company for the first time. He is 2lb “wrong” but has a handy low weight so it feels the right moment to ask him to step up, he my need further to be competitive at this level but it will be interesting – Sean rides and 10 run.

Finally Bel Amigo runs in the 3:15, he has had an interrupted preparation for this race and is going back to two miles left handed may not be ideal but he worked well yesterday and we felt worth taking a chance in a race that hasn’t filled – Bruce rides and 6 run.

At Haydock on Wednesday Elvis Mail ran well for a long way and finished 3rd under his top weight. He really needs some help re his rating, hopefully that will come. Ground wasn’t soft enough for Theme Tune who was never able to get competitive.

After Kelso plan is Musselburgh Monday, Ayr Tuesday, Hexham Wednesday, Newcastle Thursday and with a bit of luck Cheltenham next Friday.  Good luck everyone and enjoy the racing – it beats the real world!