Not bad for starters! Day one of Grand National meeting is Michelin star stuff

They're under starter's orders and they're off!

So, these are just the canapes? The nine runners in the Betway Aintree Hurdle, headed by Buveur D'Air, are the winners of 67 races, 21 Grade 1s and just shy of £4 million in prize-money between them.

The Champion Hurdle winner in three of the last five years is in there, as is the runner-up in the race for the last two years. Five of them are previous Cheltenham Festival winners. Tasty.

The Betway Bowl is full to the brim with top-class staying chasers. The ten Grade 1 victories they have achieved between them include two Betfair Chases, a King George, a Savills Chase and a Ryanair.

Spare a thought for poor Elegant Escape; he is the only one of the sextet still waiting on a top-level triumph. He did win a Welsh Grand National, mind you. Delicious.

The winners of both juvenile hurdles at Cheltenham are at Aintree too. Pentland Hills stormed home to land the Triumph Hurdle, but it was Band Of Outlaws' ferocious turn of foot in the Fred Winter which had most pundits purring last month.

Following the sad loss of Sir Erec, this will tell us who the best four-year-old is. Yummy.

La Bague Au Roi takes a look at the racecourse with travelling head girl Taylor PookCredit: Edward Whitaker

There is no Cheltenham winner in the opening Manifesto Novices' Chase following the late defection of Defi Du Seuil, but the presence of La Bague Au Roi almost makes up for it.

You wonder how Warren Greatrex was feeling as Topofthegame and Santini jumped the last in tandem in the RSA Chase at the festival. La Bague Au Roi had beaten both in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day but, instead of holidaying in the Cotswolds, Greatrex has opted to sail down the Mersey and live it up in Liverpool.

The flatter track and shorter trip are supposed to suit. If she can see off Kalashnikov, Glen Forsa and Mengli Khan, the trainer's patience will have paid off a handsome dividend. Spicy stuff.

Our first glimpse of the famous fences comes at 4.05. Road To Rome appeared to be on the road to Cheltenham glory until he went down a dark alley after the second-last.

Stamina seemed to give way there, but the Foxhunter at the festival is three miles, two furlongs and 70 yards; the Foxhunters’ at Aintree is over five furlongs shorter. Perhaps this particularly road will lead to victory.

Last year’s winner Balnaslow is back for more, while Burning Ambition appears to have been laid out for the race by Pierce Power having resisted the temptation to send him to Cheltenham. It's hot.

There is a typically competitive renewal of the Red Rum Handicap Chase, with 18 runners rattling down to the first fence. If you can't jump at speed, you can't win.

Nineteen of the 20 runners in the concluding Grade 2 mares’ bumper are previous winners and they look a fantastic crop.

What a terrific Thursday we have in store, and there are three more Grade 1s on Friday. It is all Michelin star stuff at Aintree this year. You know the main course does not arrive until 5.15pm on Saturday? The diet starts on Sunday.

'I haven't seen a Flat horse like him over hurdles for some time now'

A Fred Winter winner couldn't possible win a Champion Hurdle, could he? Well, our very own Tom Segal of Pricewise fame believes it can be done and that it will happen in 2020.

Segal was so impressed with Band Of Outlaws in the Fred Winter last month that he tipped him to win next year's Unibet Champion Hurdle at 33-1 in his Racing Post Weekender column last month.

Band Of Outlaws: Pricewise fancy for next year's Champion HurdleCredit: John Grossick

Segal said: "Probably the two best two-mile hurdlers in recent memory are Istabraq and Hurricane Fly, both decent horses on the Flat who took their form to a totally different level over hurdles, and Band Of Outlaws looks similar.

"It is asking a lot for him to be as good as that pair, but he was a 10lb better horse on the Flat than Our Conor, who was well fancied for the Champion not long ago. What is so exceptional about this horse is that he settles so well and absolutely loves jumping. I haven’t seen a Flat horse like him over hurdles for some time now and at 33-1 I’ll keep having a few quid on him most weeks."

Segal, who in a racingpost.com Q&A on Tuesday night said Band Of Outlaws was his nap at the Grand National meeting, will be watching the Doom Bar Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle (2.20) with more interest than most. He has put his neck on the line.

Mixed signals

A total of 15 horses have competed in the Bowl at Aintree after running in the Gold Cup in the last ten years. Recently Silviniaco Conti (2014), Cue Card (2016) and Might Bite (2018) have won.

However, some big names have been beaten, including Kauto Star (pictured), Denman twice, Imperial Commander, Djakadam, Holywell, Exotic Dancer, Burton Port and Don Poli.

Punters fancying Bristol De Mai (third), Clan Des Obeaux (fifth), Elegant Escape (sixth) and Kemboy (unseated), who all ran in the Gold Cup, should beware a possible hangover.

Ruby reunited with Kemboy

Ruby Walsh has not ridden Kemboy since he made a winning Irish debut at Limerick in December of 2016. Since then Kemboy has ran a dozen times and added five more wins to an impressive CV.

Walsh opted to ride Bellshill in the Savills Chase won by Kemboy and did so again in the Gold Cup. Paul Townend and David Mullins have both ridden the son of Voix Du Nord five times, while Bryan Cooper and Danny Mullins have also teamed up with him since Walsh was last aboard on a racecourse.

Final thought

There may be just nine runners in the Betway Aintree Hurdle but they have won a staggering 67 races between them.

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