Alex Hammond on racing in America and Hong Kong and the Virtual Grand National

Regular viewers of Sky Sports Racing will be aware that we are keeping the show on the road with a smattering of international racing and I’ve been touched and overwhelmed by the response from you all.

In fact, there have been so many emails sent into the channel when we are on air, that unfortunately I haven’t been able to read them all out. I promise I’ll try and rectify that next time.

Saturday night saw myself and Jason Weaver in the studio and The Shark was in great form. He tipped plenty of winners and gave us his invaluable insight into all things US racing and held my hand throughout the evening.

It was actually a decent quality card with the highlight the Florida Derby. Historically, this is a race that has been a reliable trial for the Kentucky Derby, but who knows if that will be the case this year with the Run For The Roses now taking place in September.

One thing I do know, the winner on Saturday night is pretty smart. Tiz The Law stormed away to win the nine furlong Grade One, justifying strong market support, and is a fas- improving three-year-old. He’s now 5/1 favourite with Sky Bet to win the race at Churchill Downs on 5 September and on that performance you wouldn’t be keen to oppose him.

Obviously, there will be a very different build up to the race than usual and it will be interesting to see how hard or otherwise it is to keep him on the boil until then.

Seven winners of the Florida Derby have gone on to be first past the post in the Kentucky Derby since the turn of the century (last year’s winner, Maximum Security was disqualified), so it’s one of the most worthwhile trials for the big race.

In order to run in the Kentucky Derby, horses have to amass qualifying points and with some meetings now called off in America, I’m not sure how that will impact the race. Maybe dispensations will have to be made?

On that note, I was chuntering away to myself the other day about the European Classics and how things could pan out if they are rescheduled for later in the year.

Let me know your thoughts, but my theory is, that whilst it would be great to run them regardless of what time of year, would this give this year’s Classic crop an unfair advantage in comparison to all those that have gone before?

Will the extra time they are given to mature mean that the record books are out of kilter? Will the 2020 races be run in a faster time than we’d usually expect because the horses are a little older and therefore stronger? Will this year’s winners stand out as exceptional?

I know this is irrelevant given the state of the world at the moment, but that’s what happens when you have too much time on your hands to think!

Speaking of which, I’ve been spending some of my time away from the studio being useful. My best friend is a farmer and another pair of hands on a busy farm never goes amiss.

I’m not sure my kettlebell workouts will be needed if I do much more manual work, but it’s good to feel helpful and we have never needed this under-pressure industry more than we do right now. I’ve been helping with lambing and with the cattle, but you should try keeping two meters away from people in a farmyard when working with animals! We managed it though by using the following guidelines:

You should keep one cow length apart (or two calves) and you shouldn’t be close enough to make contact with each other if you swing a broom! It worked for us anyway.

It’s tough for everyone out there, but let’s hear it for the farmers who are doing their best to keep the food chain going.

Back to the racing now and there is some quality action in Hong Kong on Sunday. I paid close attention to my colleague John Blance when we were in the studio together on Wednesday when he previewed the card at Sha Tin.

There isn’t much that John doesn’t know about the scene out there having been based in Hong Kong for three years and his knowledge is encyclopedic. We chatted about the Sprint Cup and I think Aethero is the one to be on there. He’s a fast improving sprinter with more to come, but that will be reflected in his price.

Maybe double him up with Waikuku in the Chairman’s Trophy. He claimed the scalp of star performer Beauty Generation on his last start and has finished in front of him on his last four outings. Beauty Generation has subsequently won, when dropped back to seven furlongs, but going back up over the mile swings the odds back in Waikuku’s favour. There is so much information available to punters that want to learn about the Hong Kong scene, you just need time to digest it.

On a more frivolous note, the Virtual Grand National takes place on Saturday afternoon. You may scoff, but this will be a bit of light relief in the current circumstances and it’s all for a very worthy cause.

The result will be determined using algorithms to see who would have come out on top given all the information we have. Not only will it give us the chance to have a flutter, but bookmakers and the Tote will be donating any profits they make on the ‘race’ to NHS Charities Together.

The NHS workers are absolute heroes and hopefully this can give them a much needed financial boost. For what it’s worth, I’d have loved to have seen Tiger Roll win a third Grand National at Aintree, but now I don’t have my heart ruling my head, I’m going with the attractively weighted Irish National winner Burrows Saint for Willie Mullins and Rachael Blackmore.

I’ve been trying to think of appropriate cartoon names for the trainer and jockey to fit the occasion, but have drawn a blank! Answers on a postcard please (or twitter). Take care of yourselves and stay healthy.

Grand National related links

• Virtual Grand National racecard and latest odds
• Our Pinstickers' horse-by-horse guide
• Full field, start time and TV details
• Virtual Grand National Sweepstake Kit
• Sky Bet Grand National odds
• Let's talk about... best National bets
• Ed Chamberlin: Presenting the Grand National
• Alex Hammond's VGN tips
• Aintree donate tickets to NHS
• Win Cheltenham 2021 Tickets
• What it's like owning a Grand National horse
• Let's talk about... Red Rum
• Let's talk about... National horses
• Let's talk about... Devon Loch
• Let's talk about... Foinavon
• Let's talk about... Tiger Roll
• Grand National winners...where are they now?
• Bookmakers make charity pledge
• Join our Racing Facebook Group