Paul Kealy's play of the day at Aintree

Allied to the watering overnight on the Thursday, Friday's rain may have come just in time for Gavin Cromwell's eight-year-old, who ran really well when fourth in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham last month.

Letsbeclearaboutit was travelling as well as anything turning for home there, but he didn't quite seem to see it out, and while 2m4f around Aintree could be on the sharp side for him, the rain looked to be getting well into the ground during day two, and that will suit.

He certainly gives the impression he is a proper Grade 1 performer as a novice, and while Cromwell has yet to taste success at this meeting, the three runners he ran last year all finished second, two of them at big prices.