Gentleman De Mee overturned odds-on favourite Edwardstone as he lifted the Poundland Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree.
Arkle winner Edwardstone was widely expected to follow up his Cheltenham Festival success in this Grade One contest, being sent off the 4-7 favourite for Alan King.
However, he proved no match for the Willie Mullins-trained winner, who raced generously throughout for Mark Walsh as he took a big step up from wide-margin wins at Thurles and in a Navan Grade Three.
Third Time Lucki briefly looked like challenging after Harry Skelton did well to recover a lost iron, but he dropped away in the straight, leaving Edwardstone and Gentleman De Mee to slug it out.
There was only one winner though, as Gentleman De Mee kicked on again at the last, coming home four and a half lengths clear with Dan Skelton’s Third Time Lucki another 11 lengths back in third.
Mullins said: “I think the Arkle winner, having been to Cheltenham and we didn’t, maybe didn’t have the freshness we had. I was hoping our freshness might be the right card to play and it looked like that.
“Mark gave him a brilliant ride, he got him out, got him jumping and even gave him a breather when he made a mistake at the fourth-last. Mark felt he was always in charge."
#HorseRacing #Horses #Aintree #GrandNational
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8 апр 2022
