Ten to Follow 13.04.21

The 2021 Aintree Grand National meeting captured the attention of the world as Rachael Blackmore became the first woman to win the Grand National. This Ten to Follow update takes you through all the point scoring action from the Aintree Festival, where every race had 20 bonus points on offer:
 

In the opener on Thursday Protektorat bounced back to his best to beat home the likes of The Shunter, Hitman and Fusil Raffles. In the Grade 1 Betway Bowl Chase the good start continued for Paul Nicholls as Clan Des Obeaux proved the class of the field winning impressively by 26 lengths. The final point scorer on day 1 was Abracadabras who got the first win on the board for Ireland.  

Just two winners scored points for players on Friday, the first being Chantry House who achieved the Cheltenham/Aintree double by winning the Betway Mildway Novices' Chase. It looked set to be a cracking battle between Espoir De Romay and Chantry House, but the former fell two out and left the winner to win unchallenged by 32 lengths. Fakir D'oudairies struck next, winning the feature race in clear-cut style and landing a quick fire double for owner J P McManus.

The final day of action saw another Cheltenham/Aintree double as Shishkin won the Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase. It wasn't the sort of stylish victory that we've come to expect from the Henderson trained horse, but he still did enough to win by over 3 lengths. The next race was billed as the latest instalment of Thyme Hill vs Paisley Park, however the latter didn't perform on the day and it was Roksana who threw down a challenge to Thyme Hill. The Skelton mare hit the front but Thyme Hill kept on best under his new rider Tom O'Brien to get up and win by a neck.

The final point scorer of the day was Happygolucky in the Betway Handicap Chase. Well done to player Graham Barton who was the only person to pick the winning horse and score 45 points.  

After all that point scoring action Tony Wells leads the way on 500 points thanks to wins from Shishkin and Clan Des Obeaux. Nick Marriott is just 25 points down in second place, with Michael Moysey and Ray Horne close behind him. The full standings can be viewed here.