A 23-runner hunters’
chase over the National fences may seem like an odd place to go
searching for a ‘good thing’, but On The Fringe has 9lb
and upwards in hand of his rivals on official ratings and can win
this race for the second year running. Enda Bolger’s 11-year-old
only won the St. James’s Place Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham
Festival by a neck, but never looked like being overhauled in the
closing stages and can confirm the form with those who finished
behind him, including fifth-placed Pacha Du Polder. The Exit To
Nowhere gelding is equally effective at this shorter distance, as he
demonstrated by very easily drawing clear of Pacha Du Polder on the
run-in last year to win by 3¾ lengths.
On The Fringe has
apparently recovered well from his Cheltenham exertions and, while
the absence of his regular partner Nina Carberry – handed a
seven-day whip ban for her winning ride in the St. James’s Place
Foxhunter Chase – is a slight negative, Jamie Codd is a perfectly
able deputy. Pacha Du Polder will, no doubt, benefit from the
stronger handling of William Biddick, who replaces Victoria Pendleton
but, on balance, preference must be for On The Fringe, who looks fair
value at around 7/4 in the early price lists to complete a second
Cheltenham-Aintree double.
Selection:
Aintree 4.05 On The Fringe to win
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