Old Roan Limited Handicap Chase: Report, reaction and free video replay

Trained by Richard Hobson and ridden by champion jockey Brian Hughes, the nine-year-old Riders Onthe Storm (16/1) was without success since landing Grade One honours at Ascot in February 2020, but rolled back the years at Aintree with a tenacious effort to deny Paul Nicholls' 100/30 chance Hitman by a head.

Third went to the returning Ga Law (11/1) who was having his first run for 603 days, while the 5/2 market leader Do Your Job was disappointing in sixth after making a bad mistake on the second circuit. Meanwhile, Millers Bank (9/2) didn't get past the very first fence where he unseated jockey Kielan Woods.

The winner, who was having just his fifth start for the Hobson yard having previously been trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and Tom Taaffe, was tipped by Rory Delargy in our popular racing Members Extra column, which goes live to logged-in readers at 11am on Saturday and Sunday.

Betfair and the sponsors make Riders Onthe Storm a 20/1 chance for the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham next month.

Hughes said: “I rode him once before, in a novice handicap at Cheltenham for Tom Taaffe, and I remember walking away that day thinking we’d left one behind.

“That day I buried him and he was very keen and didn’t jump and fell early, so today I was very keen to get him his own space and let him use his jumping. He was very good, to be fair to him.

“If anything I was in front a bit soon as he was having a good look around, but he picked up when the second horse came to him."

Hobson said: “We were in the doldrums all last season with him. His first run was good, but he got injured in Cheltenham and the horses then got sick in the yard and remained sick all the way through until April really.

“The break and the turning out and bringing him back in nice and fresh has done him the world of good, obviously he’s plummeted down the handicap a little bit and he was given a fantastic ride.

“He came in on August 1 and really hasn’t missed a day – his preparation has gone extremely well.”

He added: “It’s been an early start as we were working horses this morning – it never ends. We’re going to celebrate this one, definitely. Brian said ‘keep him fresh’ and I think that’s the key to him. If we keep fresh and just keep our powder dry and run him a few times a season, that’s probably the way to go."

More from Sporting Life

• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.