"Panic Attack is trying to do something that a mare hasn’t done since 1951. She’s got a big chance and looks fantastic."
12:45 Aintree
We fancied Be Aware a good bit in the Grand Annual, but he pulled too hard. He’s not an easy horse which I think his record shows. I think a slightly smaller field will suit him. He has lots of ability, that’s not a question, it’s just about getting everything right for him. If he’s on a good behaviour day he can go and run really well. He has just become hard to predict and if he pulls as hard as he did at Cheltenham, he gives himself no chance, but he does have ability.
It was disappointing that Mirabad got beat when odds-on last time, but he is more suited to this better ground now. He’s got numbers to find, so we are going into this with our eyes open. We have kept him fresh for it. He goes there to pick up all he can.
SUPREMELY WEST & ACE OF SPADES
1:20 Aintree
Supremely West won the Pertemps and shot up a good few pounds, but I feel like he is in great form which is most important. When he was younger, his best form was on slow ground, but he is pretty versatile ground wise now as he’s got a little older. Let’s see if he’s got enough in hand after Cheltenham. Can he defy the rise? I don’t know. But he’s in good form, the track is no issue, and he’s a straightforward horse. I am looking forward to getting out there with him.
Ace Of Spades ran really well at Cheltenham. He was probably a little bit close to the pace and needs to be a little bit more reserved, but he has shot up the handicap for doing so well. He has been very consistent, and I am very proud of what he has achieved this year, but I just don’t think he hides a pound from the handicapper. He should run well though, these are his conditions.
1:55 Aintree
They both ran very well in the Turners at Cheltenham. Bossman Jack made a mistake at the last and he may have been second without that. He is obviously a high-class horse and travelled very well. I think this track will suit him. He’s not had a particularly hard year, and I would have to give him a fair chance.
I wouldn’t say Soldier Reeves surprised us at Cheltenham because we thought the step up to two-and-a-half would really suit him and it did. He was flying late on, and I think he will run similarly well. He’s not a complainer and wouldn’t know how to be over the top. He is a horse who just wants to run, and I think he will go really well.
2:30 Aintree
The flat track and everything about this race should really suit Mr Hope Street. He has some nice form from Haydock earlier in the year behind Iroko and The Jukebox Man. He had a little injury mid-season, so we’ve had to rush to get him back. I think he will improve a lot from the last day, this looks like everything he wants, and hopefully his handicap mark isn’t beyond him.
3:05 Aintree
She always runs her best race. She loves good ground and I am very proud of what she has achieved over her career, and she keeps trying her best. She was fourth in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and never lets us down. I think she will run another solid race with conditions in her favour.
4:00 Aintree
Panic Attack is trying to do something that a mare hasn’t done since 1951. She’s got a big chance and looks fantastic. She has had a great season, she is on top of her game, she stays really well, and she wants this type of trip nowadays. I know this is as far as you can go but I feel like the trip is not a negative and she just loves her racing. Everything we could have hoped for in the build up to this race has happened. It is going to be hard to win a Grand National, you don’t need me to tell you that. It feels like she has all the things she needs, and we will find out if she is good enough. I am really happy with her in the build up to this.
COOLTOBECARELESS, RISKY OBSESSION & FORTHFACTOR
5:00 Aintree
We have three nice horses in the bumper. Harry [Skelton] rides Risky Obsession. We got stuck in the mud at Newbury, but he ran really well before that. He is a fine horse, and the ground will really suit him.
I also think the ground will suit Cooltobecareless who won last time out and we have planned this race out for him. He has probably got numbers to find but I do think he is in great form.
Forthfactor is a very strong travelling horse. He won under a penalty which I think is always a good sign. The track will suit him, he is very fresh and well, and we trained him specifically for this. It’s a good bumper but we have three really nice horses.
EVENING TESS12:35 Chepstow
Evening Tess runs in a four-year-old hurdle, and she ran alight the last day and she stayed on. She is very green and raw, but I would expect a bit more this time. To rhink she’ll win would probably be too much though, but she does have the benefit of that run.
1:05 Chepstow
We have two mares running here called Burning Embers and Jollie Dame. Burning Embers is better going left-handed and Jollie Dame ran quite nicely the last day at Bangor. I wouldn’t say either will just go and win a weight-for-age race based on form so far, but they should be competitive.
2.50 Chepstow
Choice Runner has his first start over fences for us. It hasn’t happened for him over hurdles and we hope to see something very different here. He is bred to be a chaser so we will get on and do that.
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Ben Jones - "I think they've had this race in mind for him for a long time, and that can definitely only be a bonus..."
12.45
I start Grand National day at Aintree with No Questions Asked in the novices' chase, who is stepping back up in grade. I think the small field is going to help him here - I schooled him earlier this week and he schooled very well. I was probably angry with myself the last day; I dropped him out and things just weren't really working for us at Cheltenham. We never really got into it, so we've put a line through that race, and if he can have a nice, smooth, run around Aintree, I think the drop back down to two miles will suit. All being well, he'll have a good each-way chance.
1.20
My next one is Minella Rescue for Gary Hanmer. I don't know a whole lot about it and he seems to be in and out of form. But if you go back to last year's form around Aintree, he had a very good run. He's around 50/1, and he's got to run a lot better than he's shown, obviously. But the ability is there, for sure.
2.30
Then I've got Bad in the three-mile handicap chase, and I think he's been crying out to go up in trip. We were debating whether to go for this of the Topham. But with the ground being nice, I think he deserves a go over three miles. He's brilliant at home, he's come out of his last run really well, and I think he should be able to get into a good rhythm a lot easier by stepping up in trip. And I know he's got the class as well, so hopefully he can show what he's capable of here, and if he does, then we've got a great chance.
4.00
The next one is obviously the big one, and I'm riding a horse called Jordans for Joseph O'Brien. Again, I don't know a whole lot about him, to be honest, but he showed very good form at Aintree last year. He obviously hasn't run over these fences before, so he's got to take to them well. I think they've had this race in mind for him for a long time, and that can definitely only be a bonus... I'm very much looking forward to it. Obviously, it's new connections too, and I've got a ride in the Grand National, which is what every jockey wants. You know, I've had a spin in the National a couple of times now, so I'm excited to get back out there and see how we get on.
5.00
Ben [Pauling] actually has four runners in this race, and I'm on Rices Pool. It was a bit of a tough choice to make, to be honest, but I really liked the way he went around Taunton the last day. He's obviously going to have to step up here, but he was a very willing partner first time out, and I think out of Ben's four, him and Merry Away are very similar. It's obviously a decent race, and a step up in grade, but he's already given me a lovely feel this season, and if it's not to be this time out, then he'll be a lovely hurdler next year.
