THE Grand National is almost here – but there’s plenty of money to be made elsewhere at the blockbuster three-day Festival.
That’s where Templegate and his second-to-none knowledge comes in.
Former Cheltenham Festival winner Impaire Et Passe is being backed to bounce back now stepping up in trip againSportsfile
Our man has scoured the early day one entries for next Thursday – and it looks like being a cracking card.
While we’ve had an idea of who might run in some of the other races for a while.
That being said, here’s his early Aintree treble to take a look at, including a 125-1 double that makes plenty of appeal.
While you’re here, don’t forget to bag yourself a brilliant Grand National Festival free bet.
IMPAIRE ET PASSE (Aintree Hurdle, Thursday)
Aintree’s answer to the Champion Hurdle looks more competitive than the Cheltenham version with Bob Olinger and Impaire Et Passe heading to Liverpool.
I favour the Willie Mullins runner of that pair as he looks to be crying out for the 2m4f around the speedy Mildmay course.
He won the Ballymore last season before following up at Punchestown.
He looked good on comeback just behind Stayers’ Hurdle winner Teahupoo before chasing home State Man over two miles at Christmas.
He clearly wasn’t himself in the Irish Champion behind his stablemate again when two miles wasn’t ideal.
There will be no excuses at Aintree trip-wise and he has won on decent and bottomless ground.
Offers of 5-1 mean a cheeky each-way bet can pay dividends.
THE GOFFER (Topham Chase, Friday)
I thought he’d run well in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival and he did when finishing fifth.
Nothing was coming from a long way back in the heavy ground at the whole meeting so his hold-up tactics didn’t help and the lack of a recent run told as he ran out of juice up the hill.
He won’t have that problem at flat Aintree and his good jumping will be an asset over the Grand National fences.
The drop back in distance won’t do him any harm and it will feel like further than 2m5f on what is likely to be testing ground again.
He looks the right type for the Topham and he should run well at around the 20-1 mark.
You could do a 125-1 each-way double with Impaire Et Passe to really leave the bookies panicking.
However, should The Goffer swerve the race, IN EXCELSIS DEO is worth chancing too.
He was a good fifth in the Festival Plate coming from off the pace in another race that was won from the front end. He proved his stamina in soft ground and can go close at 10-1.
CALDWELL POTTER (Mersey Novices’ Hurdle, Saturday)
His new connections – including Sir Alex Ferguson – have just shelled out a whopping 740,000 euros for this exciting prospect who has moved to Paul Nicholls from Gordon Elliott.
He swerved Cheltenham to allow him more time to settle in at Ditcheat and is being aimed at the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle on Grand National day – for which Nicholls says he is looking ‘absolutely perfect’.
The big tick about him is his liking for heavy ground as they have been building arks on Merseyside after weeks of downpours.
He was impressive at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting and the extra half-mile of the Aintree contest should be right up his street.
As the old saying goes, whatever he does over hurdles will be a bonus as novice chasing will be his game next season and that’s where he should fulfil his massive potential.
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