Cool and sunny again today and time to reflect on a wonderful Aintree Festival; tremendously competitive racing to follow up an excellent Cheltenham.  And what about Mr Mullins, having bagged the four Grade Ones on Thursday he trains the 1-2-3 in the Grand National with the winner ridden by his son Patrick.

Patrick & Willie

Remarkable, sometimes people ask me if his dominance is boring and bad for the sport.  It possibly does switch a few people off but I have nothing but admiration for him and his team at Closutton.  How does he do it?  Well, he starts off by having the best horses and money holds no fear for him in that regard.  As in any sport, the team with the best players wins the most and he currently has an edge with his team able to buy the best in France, Ireland and England due to their depth of contacts, reputation and ability to act very quickly without lining up an Owner first.  Secondly his team at home is very deep and they have excellent systems in place.  Importantly he is fantastic at thinking outside the box at every level; whether that be in simple little things at home or not allowing himself to pigeon hole horses.

Florida Pearl – one of Willie’s great chasers; went straight from bumpers to 17 runner Beginners Chase, won 14 chases including 8 Grade One’s, never ran in a hurdle race.

Finally he is wonderfully restrained in the way he campaigns his horses, refusing to get involved in the early skirmishes he ensures the right horses are at their peak for the spring Festivals.  Nearly all of his Aintree runners were having their 4th or 5th runs of the season, one or two their 6th, some just their 2nd or 3rd.  He does have the great advantage of huge numerical strength as well but you simply have to take your hat off to him.  Aside from this he is a genuinely nice family man, the emotion he showed after yesterday’s race said it all and I was delighted for them, and now of course we have an enthralling battle for the UK Trainers Title awaiting us over the next three weeks…

Back to the weather; causing problems with Exeter and point to points being abandoned due to firm ground and a lot of watering taking place.  Including Kelso tomorrow where we have three runners declared on ground that we very much hope will be on the soft side of good.  We start with Half Track in the 2.15; he ran much better to be 4th last time and has since had a minor wind operation, he is well handicapped on his older form so hopefully we can see him back to his best tomorrow – 10 run and Bruce rides.

Half Track

Ozzy Cosmo runs in the 2.45; he ran well to be 3rd last time and has also had a minor wind operation so shouldn’t be far away if he takes to the track, again he looks well handicapped on his earlier form – 9 run and Conor rides.

Ozzy Cosmo

Finally we run Lester Mail in the bumper at 4.45; he improved to be a fairly close 6th last time and the form of that race has worked out well, he ought to have improved again so I’d like to think he will run a decent race – 6 run and Bruce rides.

Lester Mail

Only one runner last week thanks to the ground, So Ladylike at Newcastle who ran a lovely race to be 3rd.