Birch spoils House party
Last season’s Grand National hero Amberleigh House couldn’t make it a winning return to action at Aintree yesterday but trainer Ginger McCain was more than happy with his performance.
The 12-year-old finished fifth behind Silver Birch in the totesport Becher Chase but he again showed his aptitude for the fearsome National fences with a lovely round of jumping.
Amberleigh House took the Becher back in 2001 and yesterday was the seventh time out of eight visits that McCain’s charge completed the course.
Despite being saddled with top weight, Amberleigh House was always travelling well for Graham Lee and McCain thought it was the ground, rather than the weight which beat his National winner.
“I am very satisfied,” said McCain.
“Graham said it was not the weight that beat him but the ground. I don’t have to tell you that this is a very, very good Liverpool horse, Graham gave him a superb ride and he never made a semblance of a mistake.”
In a grandstand finish, Ruby Walsh and Silver Birch just got the better of Just In Debt by a length after a terrific duel.
Walsh made much of the running on Paul Nicholls’ gelding after the early leader Ardent Scout fell at the ninth and although Just In Debt made it a battle around the elbow, Silver Birch stuck on gamely.
Smarty, runner up in the 2001 Grand National, was third while Double Honour just took fourth from Amberleigh House in a photo-finish.
Silver Birch is now as low as 20-1 with William Hill and Ladbrokes for the John Smith’s Grand National next April and Walsh thinks he could well be better on quicker ground.
“I rode him at Newton Abbot two weeks ago and he won it with his jumping. He was really enthusiastic and jumped like a stag,” Walsh said.
“When we got to the elbow I still had something to pick up and go with and he stuck his neck out for me, but he’ll definitely benefit from nicer ground.”
Walsh and Nicholls were capping off a great weekend after teaming up to win the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon with Le Roi Miguel while the Ditcheat handler also lifted yesterday’s Sussex National at Plumpton with French Executive.
Nicholls added: “Ruby gave him a brilliant ride. He’s a great jockey and such an asset to our team.
"We’ve had a great weekend. He was struggling yesterday after having an injury on Friday. He did amazingly well to ride yesterday.
“When he got off Silver Birch at Newton Abbot he said this was just the horse for Aintree, so this is why we are here.
“The National is a long way off and off his handicap mark he would hardly get in the weights, but we’ll think about it anyway.”
Timmy Murphy and Martin Pipe’s flourishing partnership continued when Over The Creek (7-4 fav) followed up on last week’s Cheltenham success when taking the Stanleybet Children In Need Handicap Hurdle.
Murphy steered the five-year-old wide around much of the course in search of better ground and although Over The Creek was tiring slightly on the run-in, he still finished three lengths clear of Billyvoddan, who stayed on well into second.
“I went wider but he handled it okay, jumped well and just kept going,” said Murphy.
“I wasn’t worried when he made a couple of mistakes, as I started off on the wrong foot by winging the first two, but I decided to get him back in the thick of it, and he just kept going and has done it real well.
“He could be a chaser in the making.”
Carl Llewellyn was still nursing a black eye from a nasty spill at the track on Saturday but he showed no ill-effects as he scored a near 15-1 double.
Baron Windrush (13-8) initiated Llewellyn’s brace as he galloped his two rivals into the ground to claim the Red Square Vodka Amberleigh House Novices’ Chase.
The Nigel-Twiston Davies-trained runner had unseated the Welshman in both his previous outings but he led from start to finish to beat Joes Edge by a distance.
Ladbrokes were sufficiently impressed with Baron Windrush’s performance to cut him to 20-1 from 25-1 for the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham.
“They are a lovely bunch of owners, and they have been very patient with him,” said Anthony Evans, representing Twiston-Davies.
Llewellyn notched his second winner when Christopher (5-1) gamely took the Weatherbys Insurance Handicap Chase.
The rider was hard at work from a long way out on Philip Hobbs’s grey and Sound Of Cheers looked the winner even at the last, but Christopher rallied on the run-in to land the spoils by four lengths.
Famous Grouse looked a useful recruit for trainer Peter Bowen yard when producing a game performance to land the opening CTP Novices’ Handicap Hurdle.
The 5-1 joint-favourite, saddled with top-weight, took it up before the last but kept on through the testing conditions to hold off the challenge of Kinburn by two and a half lengths.
“We were expecting him to run well, the only thing we were slightly worried about was that the previous trainer (Charlie Mann) said that he was struggling to get two miles, and he was also carrying top-weight, which was a bit of a worry,” said owner Gwilym Morris.
Tony Dobbin picked up a one-day ban (December 2) for his winning ride on Nicky Richards’ Turpin Green in the European Breeders Fund “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle.
Turpin Green had to survive a stewards’ inquiry as he got very close to runner-up Rebel Rhythm on the run-in and although he kept the race, Dobbin was found guilty of careless riding.
