A Climate change in fortunes for Weston

THE Betfred Midlands Grand National is always a test of stamina for horses and punters alike.

Following on from the four days of the festival at Cheltenham, Uttoxeter’s biggest raceday comes as a cure for the hangover of patrons of Prestbury Park.

But the gruelling four-mile twofurlong trip – second only to the Grand National in terms of longest races in the calendar – will be run on extremely testing ground once again.

David Pipe farmed the race for four years between 2011 and 2014 but is not represented this time. I would imagine only a handful of the eighteen starters will complete and I’m taking a chance with Western Climate landing Tom Weston the biggest win of his training career to date.

He has won both starts on heavy ground under rules and was not too far behind Tuesday’s National Hunt Chase runnerup Ms Parfois at Warwick when last seen in January.

While the Betfred Midlands Grand National is being run, England will be attempting to prevent Ireland landing the Grand Slam in the Six Nations at Twickenham. Defeats to Scotland and France have seen England lose their grip on the title and Ireland’s bonus point victory over the Scots ensured they would be crowned champions. Ireland will be desperate to inflict more pain on England, especially in light of Eddie Jones’s comments from a talk in Japan last summer that became public this week.

Jones (right) belittled the Irish and it will provide all the incentive needed to humiliate the England boss, whose side could finish down in fifth with another defeat.

It’s 10-11 the pair though in a tight match but on recent performances and with tails up, the Irish are worth a bet.