4.50 Aintree
Manyriverstocross 16/1
Manyriverstocross comes here on the back of an excellent staying on 3rd in the County Hurdle last month and despite a 3lb hike in the the weights I think he's got a really good chance of going a couple of places better on what will be only his 3rd start after a long absence. Manyriverstocross had been off the track for 27 months with a stress fracture before reappearing in the Betfair Hurdle February and his run at Cheltenham clearly demonstrates that he still holds all of his ability. A pretty talented horse on the flat, this 8 year old proved equally as talented in his juvenile hurdling days when comfortably landing a Grade 2 way back in December 2009 before he ran an absolute blinder to finish 7th in the 2010 Neptune Hurdle but his finishing position does not do that run justice. At the 2nd flight, Manyriverstocross was hampered horrendously by the fall of Quel Esprit in front of him and Choc Thornton performed miracles that day to stay on board in an incident that surely took an awful lot out of the horse as he dropped back to the rear of the field. He showed tremendous resolution to get back into the race after that to finish a 15L beaten 7th as he was taken care of after the final flight when his chance was gone but he surely would have been challenging for a place had that horrible incident not occurred. That was his 2nd last start before a stress fracture saw him off the track for over 2 years with his final start prior to the injury coming on his seasonal reappearance with an absolutely belting run in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham when finishing 3rd off his current mark of 138. The form of that race is absolutely superb with the winner Menorah a high class hurdler who would go on to run really well in that seasons Champion Hurdle. Furthermore, the runner up Bothy went on to go down by a short head on his next start over hurdles off a 9lb higher mark in the similarly competitive Totesport Trophy before running an absolute blinder to finish 2nd in the Coral Cup when running into the very well handicapped Carlito Brigante off an 11lb higher mark that season. The form was franked over and over again by those in behind which include Any Given Day, Olofi and Get Me Out Of Here and it was a superb effort. Additionally, he may not have even been 100% wound up given that it was his first start since the Neptune 8 months earlier but it was clear that he was a very progressive horse at the time.
Its a shame his injury sidelined him for such a long time but he made his belated reappearance in the Betfair Hurdle in February where he tomorrow's jockey Wayne Hutchinson definitely took care of him as he came home to finish a promising 10th. That run clearly blew away the cobwebs when he arguably put in a career best 3 weeks ago at Cheltenham in the County Hurdle when running an absolute blinder to finish a 6L beaten 3rd. Held up towards the rear of mid division, Hutchinson hugged the rail on his mount throughout the contest to save ground. Swinging into the home straight Manyriverstocross was about 7th or 8th under pressure but in between the final two flights he stayed on really nicely and after jumping the final flight he put distance between himself and the rest of the field as the first two home had already achieved an insurmountable advantage. It was an absolutely superb run and a great sight to for his very patient connections and I think he'll improve again for what was his first proper blowout in such a long time. Based on his old form, I definitely feel he is still a well handicapped horse and I think he'll definitely appreciate the step back up to 20f, the distance of his Grade 2 win. I also think it is very interesting that Wayne Hutchinson sticks with Manyriverstocross as opposed to switching to Coral Cup 2nd Meister Eckhart (who Coleman road that day) and I hope its a signal of intent as Hutchinson would probably have had the choice of rides. Alan King, who won this back in 2010, has his horses in good form at present and landed the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle today. Of the opposition, Broadway Buffalo is clearly the most fascinating contender in the field being unbeaten in 5 contests and untroubled over hurdles and you've just got to hold up your hands if he wins this. I rate Salubrious as a very big threat on the back of his impressive Martin Pipe win for which an 8lb rise seems fair and I've had a saver on him. If building on his last run, I strongly fancy a big run from Manyriverstocross who should relish the step up in distance and it would be a tremendous reward for connections if he can land this after his unfortunate injury.