Our exclusive racing correspondent Winterborne Longjohns has sent us a dispatch. Sadly nothing for Wincanton on Monday, but nevertheless, some useful pointers for Saturday at Aintree
Sickness and an absence of reliable stable information from the Harry Fry yard has prevented Winterborne from participating in any meaningful way in the racing game since early January. Indeed it was only on the final day of this years Cheltenham, which was incidentally, surely the best ever, that he ventured to bet !
Should you be curious those bets were , two winners, MIKAEL GORBACHOV and YOUKNOWWHATIMEANHARRY and two fallers, CUE CARD and LIMINOS, for which believe it or not he is still awaiting payment from a credit bookmaker. A character going by the Trollopian name of “Major TipToe” has made some offers to take over the onerous task of providing racing copy for this occasional column but there is something about the fellow, who lives near Bridport, that I don’t altogether trust.
Having got that out of the way, let us turn to Saturday’s Big Race. Onward and upwards as no doubt every remaining jockey facing Beecher’s for the second time round will doubtless be thinking. First in line for a recommendation is THE LAST SAMURAI trained by Kim Bailey and ridden by the excellent jockey David Bass currently at 12/1. Next comes Oliver Sherwoods’s last years winner and this years favourite MANY CLOUDS at 8/1 and likely to be shorter on the day. Next we have HOLYWELL, low weighted and trained by Jonjo O Neill, priced at 14/1 and much respected by many a good judge. Then we have ST ARE, currently 16/1, and at much greater odds of 33/1, KRUZHININN , either which could readily run into a place, while the curiously named THE DRUIDS NEPHEW should not be left out also at 14/1, giving Winterborne’s followers six to follow in what may well be a forty runner race.
Most bookmakers will pay out each way bets on the first five places so leave one out at your peril and above all be lucky.