14-time champion trainer and Betfair Ambassador Paul Nicholls talks us through his runners at Aintree on Saturday.
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Saturday runners at Aintree
12:40 Aintree - Stick To The Board
He was second on his first run at Chepstow last month and I always said he would improve for it. That was a good run. Dan Skelton’s Hitintheheadlines went all out to beat us and if Stick To The Board had jumped the last it would have been close. In a small field, I expect him to run well and go close here. He is one my best chances of the weekend.
13:15 Aintree - Sans Bruit
He loves Aintree and won the Red Rum here in 2024 and 2025. He’s dropped down to a sensible mark of 130 now, Jay won on him in Plumpton and he takes five off on Saturday. He loves good ground and must have a lovely chance.
The only reservation is that we have only ever won with him in the spring, never in the autumn. During the winter, when it is soft ground, he switches off so then he runs a few times, drops a few pounds and gets well-handicapped in the spring.
He’s had some hard races over the years, so we have to hope that he is still as good as he was. But he’s in good shape for this, the good to soft ground at Aintree will be perfect for him and, down in grade, he should run very well.
14:25 Aintree - No Drama This End
One of the races of the weekend and we are looking forward to him making his seasonal and chase debut as he has got to get started somewhere. He will go three miles later in the season and the plan at the moment is for him to go to Sandown over that trip in about a month or so. If I didn’t run him here, I would be in trouble.
He won over two mile four at Cheltenham the first time, he won over the same distance at Sandown and over two mile four or five at Newbury on good ground. The only time he won over three miles was at Perth.
Whatever he does, he is going to need the run. A couple of horses in this race have had a run, including Talk To The Man and it looks like he will be the one to beat. I know Talk To The Man is a very smart horse because I loved him and won two races with him. If he is going to beat No Drama this season it will be on Saturday.
We’ve done everything we can at home with No Drama This End and, if he gets a nice clear round and runs well, there will be massive improvement from this run to his next. It is a long season, and we have bigger targets for him down the line. He’s a slightly better horse with plenty of cut in the ground. We’ve got to start somewhere, and this is a nice track for that. Ground permitting, he will run.
15:00 Aintree - Red Risk
Now 11 years old, he always needs a run or two to get going. Last year, he went to Haydock, needing a run badly, then went to Musselburgh in February and won. We will have a couple of runs with him and then probably go back to Musselburgh. I think this will be one of his last seasons. I suspect he will be much fitter for whatever he does on Saturday.
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