Black Apalachi outstanding in Becher Chase.Taking the lead off stablemate Oulart just before the chair fence, Black Apalachi put in an outstanding display of front running and jumping to land today's Becher Chase at Aintree by a distance from the Paul Nicholls trained favourite Mr Pointment. Despite falling at the second fence in this year's Grand National, the winner certainly now looks capable of handling the Aintree fences, and must be considerd as a live prospect for next April's running of the world famous race. The runner up was carrying a lot of weight in heavy ground, but he is definitely enigmatic. At one stage he was cruising and looked sure to pick up the eventual winner, but then he seemed to lose all stamina, and slowed to a walk over the run- in, but when headed by Black Apalachi's stabel mate Oulart, he started to race again, and forced himself back into second position. Notra Pear proves too tough for Houdini.Jim Draper's Notra Pear stayed on dourly to win today's William Hill Troytown Chase at Navan. As a group of six horses turned into the straight in contention, Chelsea Harbour, who had been jumping left handed throughout the race, jumped so far to his left, he pushed the Paul Nicholls trained favourite Officier de Reserve through the running rail, and also put himself out of contention. Between the last two fences, Notra Pear and Operation Houdini forged clear from the remainder, but despite a valiant effort after the last fence, Operation Houdini was always being held by the valiant Notra Pear. Bowen continues his amazing run of victories.Haverfordwest trainer Peter Bowen had only taken hurdler Serabad back into his care just over a fortnight ago, but he worked the preverbial oracle on the four year old, as Serabad managed to carry eleven stone nine pounds to a solid victory in today's Tote Swinger Handicap Hurdle at Aintree. His win was all the more impressive as he was obviously carrying some condition, and as the trainer admitted before the race, "He will be better for the run." It is thought Serabad will now be stepped up to three miles, with the Long Walk Hurdle as his next potential target. Power dims but holds on.Endless Power nearly belied his name in today's Sefton Chase over the Grand National fences at Aintree. After putting in a wonderful front running performance he had slowed to nearly a cantor as he passed the elbow on the famous Aintree run-in, but he managed to just hang on from Brooklyn Brownie, who made up ground relentlessly over the final two furlongs of the race. Pandorama very impressive.Noel Meade's Pandorama kept up his unbeaten record over hurdles with a bloodless victory in this afternoon's Monksfield Novices Hurdle at Navan. Paul Carberry even gave him a pull entering the straight, and eased him down at the finish, but he still made Alpha Ridge, who is a good horse in his own right, look pedestrian over the last two furlongs of the race - the pair pulling a distance clear of the third. No problems at Aintree.The overnight snow has not affected Merseyside, and today's meeting at Aintree is all systems go, the highlight being the Becher Chase. >>>>>> follow on story Consistant heavy showers turned today's going from soft to heavy, and made racing conditions very testing. Scoop Six Records and Delights.As many expected, yesterday proved to be a red letter day for Totesport. For the first time, the turn over on the Scoop Six bet topped the four million pound mark in a single day. To put this into context, more was wagered than the whole of Gold Cup Day at Cheltenham in March. With such a turn over, Totesport were not phased by the fifty to one pay outs they had to make to punters who had gambled on the 'pot' topping the four million pound level. The actual total gambled surpassed four point one million pounds, and eight lucky punters will share a win fund of three million four hundred and ninety six thousand and ninety one pounds - each picking up a dividend of £437,011. Next week, they all go on to compete for the £1, 529,525 bonus pool which will be available on the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. Further to my comments all week about the importance to the whole of the racing industry of a member of the public winning a share of the win fund dividend, I am delighted to note a member of the Channel 4 racing production team, and a Stan James punter from Thatcham near Newbury, are among the confirmed winners. Is the Nicholls bubble deflating.It is far too early to write off Paul Nicholls horses for this season's major honours, but it has to be said, he has had a poor start to the season by his usually high standards. It is not just Kauto Star's fall yesterday in the Betfair Chase which stimulates this speculation. For the last two season's punters have got used to Nicholls trained horses picking up at least a couple of the major races at the weekend, but that dominance has been conspicuous by its absence during the early part of the current national hunt campaign. On paper, although they are high in the handicap, the two Nicholls competitors in today's Becher Chase - last year's winner Mr Pointment, and Gungadu - should be involved in the finish of today's race. If they are not, speculation will continue to grow as to the well being of the Nicholls horses, and punters may have to seek another liferaft for their weekend wagers. Odds On punters get their money back.One of the benefits of being in the Ladbrokes Odds On Card Scheme became apparent yesterday, as Ladbrokes had offered a concession to all Odds On punters, if Kauto Star fell in yesterday's Betfair Chase, they would have their stake refunded. It is believed this concession cost Ladbrokes well over a hundred thousand pounds. Ayr stage first national hunt meeting tomorrow.All national hunt enthusiasts are reminded, tomorrow afternoon, Ayr racecourse stages its first jumps meeting of the current season. The highlight of the six race card being the twelve thousand pound Scotbet Chase over two and a half miles.
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