Dashel Drasher the ace in Chase pack
Dashel Drasher can cap an excellent campaign with a second Grade One success in the Marsh Chase at Aintree.
Jeremy Scott’s secondseason chaser took the Ascot Chase in game fashion to open his account at the top level in February.
The eight-year-old will arrive on Merseyside a fresh horse, having missed the Ryan air Chase at Cheltenham because the ground had dried out too much at Prestbury Park.
Scott also felt that race might have come too soon after Ascot. He has had an extra three weeks to prepare Dashel Drasher for this and ground conditions should be fine.
The visual spectacle on the second afternoon is the Randox Topham Handicap Chase over the Grand National fences. Huntsman Son looks an ideal type for this race. The 11-year-old, trained by Alex Hales, is a sound jumper and has been lightly campaigned.
A winner on his seasonal debut at Wetherby in October on his first race for 538 days, Huntsman Son was a creditable sixth of 21 to The Shunter in the Paddy Power Plate at the Cheltenham Festival in his first race since December. He should be cherry-ripe for this test.
Fiddler on the roof can give trainer Colin Tizzard a third win in the Betway Mildmay Novices’ Chase.
Tizz ards truck with Native River in 2016 and Lost in translation in 2019, and Fiddler on the roof arrives with a similar profile having proved himself in top company.
Running Monkfish to six and a half length sin the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham was a top-drawer effort. He can gain handsome compensation.
Streets Of Doyen can land a deserved success in the Doom Bar Sefton Novices’ Hurdle after posting a fine effort in defeat at Cheltenham.
The Irish raider, trained by John McConnell, stayed on well to take third place behind Van Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. He has won four times over this distance earlier in the season and should find the going to his liking.
Soaring Star can sparkle on his seasonal debut in the Watch On Racing TV Handicap at Leicester.
The Kevin Ryan-trained three-year-old ran respectably