Brian Hughes blog 13/04/2023 – Friday at Aintree
Fresh from riding Ahoy Senor in the Aintree Bowl on Thursday, Novibet Ambassador and Champion Jumps Jockey Brian Hughes gives us his thoughts on his rides on Day 2 of the Aintree Grand National Festival.
2:20pm
Jungle Jack (2:20pm) has been ultra-consistent and now steps into hotter company, but we believe he’s good enough to win a race of this nature.
Donald [McCain] decided to put cheekpieces on him the last day and that looks to have brought out a bit more improvement. It’s not because he’s un-genuine, but he’s just a big lad who needs a bit of help focussing at times.
He’s the sort of horse who just does what he has to, so when he hits the front, he thinks he’s done enough. Hopefully the cheekpieces can keep him on his game and we believe there’s a few more pounds of improvement under the bonnet. I think he’s a good each-way chance at a double-figure price.
2:55pm
Rare Edition (2:55pm) is a horse I was really excited about earlier in the Autumn. I remember schooling four or five one morning back in October at Charlie’s [Longsdon], and he was the standout.
We won a novices’ hurdle at Worcester in good style, and I thought back then that he’d go on to compete in all the top novice races. He’s progressed nicely through the season but was clearly below par at Cheltenham in the Supreme. He ran a bit freely out in front and probably used up too much energy early on that day, so I think you can put a bit of a line through that.
Charlie [Longsdon] is obviously seeing all the right signs at home, so hopefully Cheltenham hasn’t left its mark and he can bounce back.
3:30pm
On ratings, Minella Drama (3:30pm) is going to have to improve to win a Grade 1, but he’s been winning big handicaps off top-weight which isn’t an easy thing to do.
The form of those handicap wins is rock solid too. Cooper’s Cross, who he beat by 6-lengths in the Auld Reekie came out and won the Grade 3 Sky Bet Chase, while Elvis Mail, who was third to us at Kelso has come out and won again since as well.
He’s coming in fresh and felt as good as ever when I rode work on him a couple of weeks ago. I might be made to look stupid, but I’m a little bit insulted to see that he’s the outsider of the whole field to be honest.
4:40pm
I’ve never hidden the fact that I think Maximilian (4:40pm) is a good horse. I’ve always really liked this guy and he’s done very little wrong all year.
His Sandown run two starts back, where he lost a shoe, was the only real blip, and I’ve got every faith in him.
He was the best horse in the race at Doncaster when beating Stay Away Fay, and he idled in front that day, so I can’t see why we’re double his price. Stay Away Fay has since come out and won well at Cheltenham, while the plan with our lad was always to keep him fresh and have this as his main target.
I schooled him just over a week ago and he felt like he’s in the form of his life, so I’m expecting him to run a massive race.
Brian Hughes blog 13/04/2023
*Prices subject to fluctuation.
