15:13

Not for the first time, APPLE’S JADE was disappointing at the Cheltenham Festival, where she started favourite for the Champion Hurdle. Subsequently, she failed to scope clean, so it may be that there was some bug holding her back that day. This is her first race at Aintree since she hosed up by 41 lengths as a juvenile, the first time that we really saw what a great race-mare she was to become, and there is every reason to hope that she can go in again. This is a big field but the runners are known quantities and there is no doubt that Apple’s Jade is the pick of them. I’m encouraged to see she’s being supported but, at 6-4, she’s still a very fair price. Some of her rivals got better results at Cheltenham, like Roksana, who lucked into winning the Mares Hurdle, and William Henry, who just got up in the Coral Cup, while Sam Spinner was a game second in the Stayers. The question is how much those exertions will have cost them; the answer could be, more than it cost Apple’s Jade, who was not in the heat of battle in the closing stages.