RACING

Ryan McElligott

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The Irish raiding party enjoyed a terrific few days at Aintree last week, but centre stage must go to the Grand National hero Many Clouds, for producing a weight-carrying performance.

The central figure in his trainer Oliver Sherwood’s renaissance this season, Many Clouds was shouldered with a burden of 11st 9lbs, following a season in which he had won Newbury’s Hennessy Gold Cup and finished an honourable sixth in last month’s Gold Cup. In victory, he carried the biggest weight to Aintree glory since Red Rum won the second of his Nationals in 1974, and his display allowed owner Trevor Hemmings, who paid a mere €6,000 for him as a foal at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale, to claim a remarkable third win.

Furthermore, his Kildare-born jockey, Leighton Aspell, who spent a spell in retirement in 2007, earned a place in racing folklore by becoming only the eighth rider to win consecutive editions of the great race since it was first run in 1839.

Over the three days at Aintree, Irish horses claimed seven victories and five of these came at grade 1 level, which represents quite a feat. Perhaps the performance of the week came from Don Cossack, who showed just what he can do at his best as he annihilated his rivals in the Melling Chase to score by 26 lengths. A somewhat unlucky loser at Cheltenham, this eight-year-old capped a superb meeting for Gordon Elliott, who notched up three victories that also took in a top level triumph for his talented novice chaser, Clarcam. Quite understandably, Elliott already has an eye on next year’s Gold Cup for Don Cossack.

In Thursday’s Aintree Hurdle, the stage seemed set for Arctic Fire to follow up his excellent second in the Champion Hurdle, but he took a crashing fall which allowed compatriot Jezki to claim his first win of the season. Happily, Arctic Fire emerged unscathed from his fall and he remains a formidable threat to stablemate Faugheen’s domination of the two-mile hurdling division.

The strength of the country’s novice hurdlers and chasers was once again in evidence, with Nichols Canyon making short work of his rivals in the Mersey Novices Hurdle on Saturday, while Henry de Bromhead’s Sizing Granite turned in a cracking effort to claim the Maghull Novices Chase at the expense of the Arkle second God’s Own.

One The Fringe became the first horse since 1993 to complete the Cheltenham-Aintree Foxhunters double. It is hard to believe that it is five years since Enda Bolger’s charge first burst onto the hunters chase scene and he has been a potent force in quality events since then, but this season he has taken his form to an entirely different level.

Flat season Away from Aintree, the flat season continues to gather momentum and with it Dermot Weld’s remarkable domination of the early stages of the 2015 campaign continues. The trainer reeled off back-to-back four-timers last weekend, with pride of place going to his three-year-old Zawraq, who looked every inch a legitimate classic contender when winning Leopardstown’s 2000 Guineas Trial in fine style.

Leopardstown also saw long-time Derby favourite John F Kennedy make his return to action, but he finished a bitterly disappointing last of three in the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes, where Ken Condon’s Success Days produced a pillar to post tour de force. The testing ground wouldn’t have suited John F Kennedy, but he should still have done better.