County Dublin-based Irish trainer Oliver McKiernan doesn’t cross the Irish Sea often. In fact, he hasn’t had a runner in Britain since 2014 and the nine-year wait comes to an end on Friday. McKiernan sends one runner over to Aintree for a Grade 1 and will be looking to return with a bang. We’ll have tips available for every race at Aintree’s Grand National Festival and you can check out our Day 2 tips here. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
No Looking Back certainly isn’t a no-hoper and he’s got some solid form in three hurdles starts so far. He got off the mark at Thurles on his debut over timber and it was a comfortable victory. His next run is somewhat hard to read but if you take it literally, it’s a very smart piece of form. Beating the very useful Brazil in a match at Limerick, he did so without too much difficulty in the end.
Despite losing his unbeaten record over hurdles at Naas last time out, he retains plenty of potential. Irish Point won that race and he had only been narrowly beaten by Marine Nationale in Grade 1 company in December. There could well be more to come from McKiernan’s five-year-old.
Oliver McKiernan’s recent form is also of interest. He has had three winners from his seven runners in the last fortnight. This gives him a strike-rate of 43 per cent and that certainly bodes well going into this race. McKiernan probably could have picked an easier re-introduction to British racing but if No Looking Back can progress further, he’s certainly not without a chance.
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