Grand National 2021: Abacadabras is magic in the Aintree Hurdle liverpoolecho.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from liverpoolecho.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UPDATED 9:46PM, APR 7 2021
Betway Aintree Hurdle (Grade 1) | 2m4f | 4yo+ | ITV/RTV
The winners of all seven Grade 1 hurdles at last month’s Cheltenham Festival were trained in Ireland and it is therefore no surprise that two of the top three in this market are based in the Emerald Isle.
Abacadabras could not hold a candle to Honeysuckle when second in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown in February but it has since turned out that there are not many who can after the mare proved herself outstanding with victory at Cheltenham.
Abacadabras fell at the third flight in the Champion Hurdle and that is a concern. Backing last-time-out fallers in Grade 1 hurdles since the start of 2016 would have yielded a loss of £11.60 to £1 level stakes and only five have won from a total of 43 runners (12 per cent).
Big races
The day one feature at Aintree is the Betway Bowl (2.50), a Grade 1 over 3m1f and featuring plenty of familiar names. The race has an illustrious honour roll, including two-time winners Wayward Lad, Docklands Express, First Gold and Silviniaco Conti.
Also on the card is the Aintree Hurdle (3.25) featuring several top-class performers including 2017 winner Buveur D Air, while Britain s best juvenile hurdlers clash at 2.20 and novice chasers do battle in the opening Manifesto Novices Chase (1.45).
The first of three races over the National fences at the meeting comes at 4.05 when 23 runners contest the Rose Paterson Randox Foxhunters Open Hunters Chase, while some exciting prospects will be in action in the concluding Grade 2 Mares Bumper (5.15).
Grand National 2021: Cloth Cap heads Aintree field as The Storyteller is withdrawn
By Frank KeoghBBC Sport
Cloth Cap is the favourite for Saturday s race
The Storyteller was the only withdrawal as the final field of 40 horses - headed by Cloth Cap - was named for the Grand National on Saturday.
It means Blaklion is the last horse to be guaranteed a run in the big race at Aintree.
Patrick Mullins will ride leading contender Burrows Saint for his trainer father Willie Mullins.
Stable jockey Paul Townend will miss the ride after suffering a foot injury.
Cloth Cap, trained by Jonjo O Neill, is the 4-1 favourite to give owner Trevor Hemmings a record fourth win in his green, yellow and white colours.
Tiger Roll and Native River among confirmed runners for Bowl at Aintree | Horse Racing News racingpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from racingpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.