Whilst the Cheltenham Festival is the main aim for most top horses, some horses are better suited by other tracks or aren’t ready for the experience. That means there are plenty of talented horses who miss Cheltenham for other Spring targets. There are plenty of good prizes to be won at Aintree, so here are three horses who didn’t make it to Cheltenham but could be worth siding with if they head to Liverpool. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Willie Mullins’ six-year-old is the perfect candidate for an Aintree raid, as he’s been there and done it before. Salvator Mundi was a seven-length winner of the Top Novices’ Hurdle at the meeting last year and connections decided to skip Cheltenham in favour of Aintree. There was plenty to like about his 28-length demolition job at Thurles last time out and he looks more than ready for the challenge.
Although he was supposed to line up at Cheltenham and was withdrawn at the last minute, that could be a blessing in disguise if he lines up here. Subsequent Grade 1 runner-up Ballyfad beat him at Leopardstown over Christmas but he took a big step forward to win impressively next time. We haven’t seen the best of this horse yet and Aintree’s Top Novices’ Hurdle could be the ideal target.
Paul Nicholls could do with a boost and a couple of the Grade 1 novice hurdles could be on the agenda for the very promising Talk To The Man. He won an Irish point at Loughanmore before joining this yard and made a good start to his hurdling career at Taunton last month. The son of Walk In The Park won under a penalty at Newbury next time and a step up in grade is inevitable.
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