National Hunt Racing > Saturday April 18th

[Aidymac]

Ayr 3:45 - Coral Scottish Grand National Handicap Chase (Grade 3) (1) 4m 110yds The very classy Sam Winner of the Paul Nicholls yard tops the weights for this years' renewal of the Scottish Grand National. Paul swerved the Grand National for this race, but he will have to defy a weight of 11-12 to win, which is a huge ask in my opinion. With the trip being over 4 miles+, you really need to be looking at a well handicapped horse, even if Many Clouds won the Grand National off a big weight only a week ago. The horse that fits the bill here is the David Pipe trained Amigo, who has sneaked into the race and will run off the featherweight of 10 stone. Course form at Ayr is very important when looking for the winner of this race, and he won on his only start at the Scottish track in April of 2013. 9 of the last 10 winners of this race have carried 10-6 or less too, so you need to be concentrating on horses near the bottom of the handicap because weight matters a lot over this distance. This horse finished 2nd behind Carruthers at Newbury over 3m3f in March, plugging on at the death so the step up in trip could be a good thing. French bred horses have done well in this race in recent years too and only Amigo and Raz De Maree fit the bill according to the trends. David Pipe has gone on record saying Amigo is not without a chance in this race, and although Scudamore rides Broadway Buffalo, I think his outsider could be a good each-way bet. Advised Bet: Amigo - 1 Point Each-Way @ 25/1 Bet365 - 5 Places http://www.horse-racing.org/scottish-grand-national-betting--amigo-can-strike-off-a-very-low-weight

[richard-westwood]

Re: National Hunt Racing > Saturday April 18th 345 ayr gallant Oscar 99.22 wayward prince 99.11 indian castle 98.77 top two look well clear here .....both have to prove themselves over the further dist which is a big factor but in such an open race the 10/1 and 33/1 makes them extremely good value ....especially with gallant Oscar the fav !!.......must be a good sign ..... gallant Oscar 5pts win 10/1 corals wayward prince 3pts ew 33/1 will hill