Nico de Boinville: “He certainly doesn’t lack for anything in terms of class and talent.”

 

2.20pm Aintree

Sir Gino

There will be a lot of focus and speculation on the form of the stable here, but, once again, I’ll leave that to the boss, and I’ll talk about the horses I ride. It was officially heavy when Sir Gino won in France, so hopefully the ground won’t be an issue for him.  It may not be ideal, but we can’t change that. What we know for sure is that he was deeply impressive when winning at Cheltenham in January, showing a great turn of foot after the last. This race has a lot of depth to it, despite just the six runners, but I’d like to think he is the one to beat on what we saw from him last time.

Unibet are BOOSTING the price on Sir Gino!

 

2.55pm Aintree

Shishkin

He was another who had to bypass Cheltenham, but let’s hope he gets compensation here. We don’t have Galopin Des Champs to contend with here, but the Gold Cup runner-up Gerri Colombe has his favoured ground and is probably the one to beat in these conditions. But Shishkin is actually rated 3lb higher than him, and I just hope he can show his best on this deep ground. It’ll certainly be a lot more testing than when he won this race last year, and when he was all set to win the King George on a decent surface. He handles this type of ground, but it is just a matter of whether he is at his best on it. He certainly doesn’t lack for anything in terms of class and talent.

Unibet are BOOSTING the price on Shishkin!

 

3.30pm Aintree

Marie’s Rock

Again, this isn’t a big field but it looks a pretty strong Grade 1. Marie’s Rock has some questions to answer here after being pulled up at Cheltenham and she would arguably want much better ground, but she is certainly no forlorn hope on her best form, which includes a second in the Liverpool Hurdle over 3m at this meeting last season. Getting the 7lb, she has her chance on that piece of form.

Unibet are BOOSTING the price on Marie’s Rock!

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