On Saturday we head to Aintree with Sounds Russian who runs in typically competitive Many Clouds Chase. He is taking on Graded winners and even last years Grand national winner. Officially he has 4lb to find with Ahoy Senior but at this level 4lb is more like 8lb! A wet forecast would have been nice as he has proven form on heavy but he doesn’t seem ground dependent; it may have inconvenienced some of the others.
Autumn Return didn’t perform at Newbury. I don’t think it was as simple as being purely outclassed as she seemed unhappy about something. I am not convinced she liked the ground there – a mixture of watered and rained on. We will find a little handicap for her now. Switch Partner cut out quickly at Doncaster and Callum reported she made a noise when the pace quickened. We will do an overground scope to see if her pallet is flipping or if there is another wind issue. All other tests came back perfect. Sir Jim made a mistake at the first and never got into the race thereafter. That paragraph sums up how frustrating it is to be a racehorse trainer!