Aintree Day 1: How We Did

A very good first day for us at Aintree and we’re hoping to follow up with further profits today. Day 1 started with the Anniversary 4yo hurdle, and got us off to a winning start with Guitar Pete. The 13/2 bet took a drift during the day and reached 8/1 with some firms, but the SP was back at the advised price of 13/2. From the off, Guitar Pete looked like a losing bet, held up at the back of the field just a few out before covering ground at a great pace to win.

Next up was the BetFred Bowl and again, a winner for us, with Silviniaco Conti at 5/2, a horse who really deserved the win after running a bad race to come 3^rd in the same event last year. Conti disputed the lead with First Lieutenant throughout the race and held on to win despite weakening before the line. At this stage (assuming you backed at level stakes) we had had two bets and two wins (2 staked, 11 returned, 9pts profit on the first two races – not a bad start to the meeting!

Following the Bowl was the feature race, the Aintree Hurdle, featuring the horse billed as “Cheltenham’s unluckiest loser”, The New One. He was our selection, but at odds of 2/5, we went looking for another bet, and came up with the option of either a reverse forecast with The New One and Diakali or a bet on Diakali to win w/o The New One. The race ended in a thrilling three-horse photo finish, with The New One winning, to give us profit, but, sickeningly, Diakali came 3^rd in the photo finish, so our other bet brought no return. (4 staked, 12.44 returned, 8.44pts profit after 3 races).

Next, it was on to a big field. Anyone following the blog over the flat season will know that we tend to do better in smaller fields and pattern races than in big-field handicaps, and the Foxhunters Chase can be a tough race to choose the winner of. Warne was a worthy one, though. As for our own three, each-way bets, Brunswick Gold went for a run before the race and so was withdrawn (no bet with most bookies). Pentiffic fell early on in the race and so who knows what might have been? As for Richards Sundance, it was disappointing not to grab a place following a strong early run, but he faded to 7^th by the time the race ended.

Finally, the Red Rum Chase was similarly unsuccessful – we opted for win bets rather than each-way ones even though there were four places on offer. Sound Investment didn’t live up to his name, while Claret Cloak picked up a place in 3^rd, and would have refunded his stake if we backed him each-way, but there’s no point in looking back now. Also, maybe more annoyingly, we made this comment in the preview: “Elsewhere, anyone looking for outsiders at bigger prices may want to note Parsnip Pete 25/1,  and Bullet Street 33/1. Turn Over Sivola is also worth noting at 8/1.” Bullet Street was a non-runner, while Turn Over Sivola was 2^nd and Parsnip Pete was the 25/1 winner!

So, the day finished as follows:
8 staked
12.44 returned
4.44pts profit

(Or, if you took our suggestion to only back the Foxhunters selections to half stakes:
6.5 staked
12.44 returned
5.94pts profit)