Timeform highlight their best bets for Thursday in the form of a ratings banker, big improver and a Flag of note.
The Ratings Banker
Pic d’Orhy – 13.45 Aintree
Pic d’Orhy tops the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings for the Manifesto Novices’ Chase and can give Paul Nicholls a first win in this Grade 1 contest.
A strong-travelling front runner who should be well suited by this flat track, he’s been kept fresh for this race since recording his third victory of the season in the Pendil Novices’ Chase at Kempton in February. Going with zest, he was taken on for the lead but still had enough up his sleeve at the finish to assert by a length from Millers Bank who reopposes on worse terms here.
Pic d’Orhy’s earlier wins came in a novices’ handicap at Ffos Las and when outjumping his rivals to record an easy success in the Noel Novices’ Chase at Ascot.
He has to concede 7 lb to the mare Gin On Lime who’s Pic d’Orhy’s chief threat on the ratings, though she hasn’t been seen since her dramatic – and very fortunate – success at Cheltenham in November when finishing alone after all but coming down herself two out.
The Big Improver
Petit Tonnerre – 14.20 Aintree
Irish contenders Pied Piper and Brazil will no doubt be popular after their performances at the Cheltenham Festival where Pied Piper was an excellent third to Vauban in the Triumph Hurdle, while Brazil lowered the colours of the heavily-backed Gaelic Warrior in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.
However, they are worth taking on with Jonjo O’Neill’s French import Petit Tonnerre who carries the first colours of Brazil’s owner J. P. McManus. The winner of both his starts in France last year for Jean-Pierre Dubois, the imposing Petit Tonnerre looked potentially smart when outclassing his two older rivals in a handicap at Market Rasen in February, travelling powerfully and recovering from a bad mistake at the last to win going away without his rider having to resort to the whip.
He was cut to single-figure odds for the Boodles after that success but missed Cheltenham and it seems significant connections are happy to let him take his chance in this Grade 1 contest instead.
The Timeform Flag
Protektorat – 14.55 Aintree
Horse In Focus, Hot Trainer
The last two winners of the Bowl, Clan des Obeaux and Kemboy, line up again in a competition of the Bowl but it can go to the youngster in the field, Protektorat, who has a 100% record at Aintree. Successful in the Manifesto Novices’ Chase on this card a year ago, he also won the Many Clouds Chase in December by a wide margin against only two other finishers, and while that race fell apart in the testing conditions, it revealed Protektorat’s previously untapped reserves of stamina.
He duly confirmed his effectiveness over three miles-plus when acquitting himself really well to take third behind A Plus Tard in last month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, finishing two places in front of another of today’s rivals Royale Pagaille. Protektorat travelled well under restraint before making his effort before three out and was already beaten when blundering at the last, a run which earned him the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag. His trainer Dan Skelton has had plenty of winners of late, including a double at Ayr last Friday.
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