Thyestes Chase - Grand National pointers
January 28th, 2008Point Barrow
Point Barrow caught the eye in the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park on the 24th January when keeping on over three miles to finish a very respectable fourth to Priests Leap. Pat Hughes’ ten year-old had to burden top weight of 11st 4lbs in heavy ground and the first time blinkers seemed to sharpen him up.
This will have aided his Grand National preparation no end and it was a touch surprising that none of the main bookmakers saw fit to reduce his price for the big race from 25/1.
As alluded to in other articles in this blog, Point Barrow should have a major chance in the National on grounds of class and stamina and we should not be too distracted by his first fence fall in the race last year.
Mattock Ranger
Meanwhile, also running in the Thyestes Chase was Noel Meade’s Cork Grand National winner Mattock Ranger. He has also been targeted at the Aintree race but ran poorly at Gowran Park and was pulled up before three out. He had gone up ten pounds for his win at Cork and it may just be that the handicapper has his measure, although the ground here was very different to his last win. 25/1 with Better for Mattock Ranger looks a little skinny considering his latest run.
