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| |  Friday, 30 March, 2001, 11:00 GMT 12:00 UK It's a three-day affair The Foxhunters is run over the Grand National course Such is the worldwide prestige of the Grand National that the quality of the rest of the three-day Aintree meeting is often overlooked. The Grand National on the third and final day is obviously the focus of the meeting but the first two days also offer some big-money races. The Aintree festival is always one of the highlights of the National Hunt calendar but this year's meeting could well benefit from the misfortunes dealt out to others by the foot-and-mouth crisis. With National Hunt's blue riband meeting at Cheltenham postponed until later in April, many trainers have now targeted their horses at the three-day Aintree meeting instead. Some of the battles that would have been fought out on the undulating course at Cheltenham will now be staged on the flat and sharp Liverpool surface instead. Day One
The highlight of Thursday's racing will be the Martell Cup Chase (3m 1f) which has attracted horses previously aimed at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Ante-post Cheltenham favourite First Gold could be among those taking part while other runners are likely to included double King George VI winner See More Business and Frantic Tan. The Martell Foxhunters Chase is another highlight of the first day of the Aintree meeting. The Aintree track has two courses - the Mildmay course and the National course - the Foxhunters is the only race of the day to be ridden over the latter.
The race is also unique in that it is only open to amateur riders and offers an excellent opportunity to see some of the top British and Irish hunter chasers in action. Bells Life, a previous winner of the John Hughes (one of Friday's races) will be gunning for his third victory over National fences in the Foxhunters. Day Two National Hunt followers are not renowned for their sartorial elegance but that has not stopped Aintree attempting to emulate the Royal Ascot meeting by declaring Friday to be Ladies Day. Friday's big race is the Mumm Melling Chase (2m 4f), which is sure to attract some of the horses who had set their sights on Cheltenham's Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Flagship Uberalles, one of the leading fancies for the Cheltenham race, is set to run in the Melling. Also on the Friday is the John Hughes Trophy Handicap Chase (2m 6f). This is the only race on the second day to be run over the National course and so offers an excellent opportunity to see how well the fences are jumping before Saturday's big race. Day Three The third and final day of the Aintree meeting tends to be dominated by the Grand National but there is more of interest on the card. The race before the National is the big hurdle race of the meeting, the Martell Aintree Hurdle (2m 4f).
This year's line-up could feature one of the season's top novices, Hindiana. The race is half-a-mile longer than the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham but this is evened out by the flatness of the Aintree track compared to the more demanding Cheltenham course. Last year's race featured three of the first four of in Cheltenham's Champion Hurdle and was won by three-time Champion Hurdle winner Istabraq. All of the races being shown on BBC Television will also be webcast on BBC Sport Online. | |
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