THE Irish might be playing second-fiddle to the home team today at Aintree.
HANDSTANDS (1.45) can kick off a British day by winning the Mildmay for Sun columnist Ben Pauling and in-form jockey Ben Jones.
He’s won all of his completed starts over fences, most recently beating Arkle winner Jango Baie, who franked the form again yesterday.
He’s 1lb clear on weight-adjusted Timeform ratings and the step up in trip will suit.
Cheltenham Festival winner Caldwell Potter is 2lb behind but will be a danger if getting into the same rhythm as he did in the Jack Richards, where he jumped them into submission.
The Irish can land a glove back with ROMEO COOLIO (2.55), who is 8lb clear on ratings for the Top Novices’ Hurdle.
He was a brilliant third in the Supreme and sets a very high bar for his rivals to aim at.
Fergal O’Brien’s Tripoli Flyer looks the biggest danger, who has won all three of his hurdling starts and arrives fresher than most after skipping the Supreme at the Festival.
Only four go to post for the Melling Chase and last year’s winner JONBON (4.00) has a chance to redeem himself after a big error cost him a chance at the Champion Chase.
Despite that horrific mistake, he thundered home into second and maintained his record of finishing in the top two of all his starts.
Old rival El Fabiolo beat Jonbon in the Arkle a few years ago but that form was reversed at Sandown last year and his jumping leaves him with a lot of questions to answer.
Jonbon is rated 3lb higher than El Fabiolo and a further 7lb above Protektorat, who was third lat year but disappointed when fancied for the Ryanair Chase last month.