The three day Grand National meeting starts tomorrow and I'll be in attendance for the opening day. It's not a venue I have a great record at to be honest and I think it pays to tread carefully on the betting front and I don't get too heavily involved usually.
One never knows how to treat Cheltenham form when it comes to the same horses running again here and if I am backing an animal that ran at the Festival I prefer it if it's a beast that thrives on racing and is tough. I think that applies to Medermit who runs in the Betfair Bowl, the Grade 1 chase that is the main event of the day. He has to turn the form round from the Ryanair Chase with Riverside Theatre and I think he has claims of doing just that. He strikes me as a tougher horse than Henderson's charge who for me had a harder race at Cheltenham than my fancy. Gerraghty was at it from some way out and I just think that will have left it's mark in some way. When it comes to NH racing you do find yourself becoming attached to some horses who you see year in and year out and it's hard to rationally dissect their chances in a race sometimes when you're aware of this possible bias. I really like Medermit and have a lot of faith in him - so much so that I see him as a real contender for the Gold Cup in the future.
In many ways he's an animal that has been the story of my Jumps season almost as much as Sprinter Sacre. He's been narrowly beaten on the two occasions I've backed him, bets that would have been tasty wins for me but I am confident he has the class to win tomorrow. Riverside Theatre is the danger naturally but none of the others concern me overmuch. If my selection jumps well enough he will be involved in the finish and is a decent bet at the 7.4 I got matched on Betfair yesterday evening and the general 6/1 he is now. I think he has better form in the book than Burton Port and Hunt Ball is taking an enormous step up in class and is way too short. The sentiment theme is particulary strong with this horse and the immense run he's been on but this is surely a step too far and he should be 14/1 not 7s. I've place laid him at 2.5.
Betfair Bowl:
Medermit £40w @ 64/10 (lost)
Hunt Ball - Place Laid @ 6/4 for £40 (Liability £60) (3rd)
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