Brighterdaysahead set for chasing ranks after success
Irish trainer has quintet ready for Saturday’s big prize
Gordon Elliott opened the Grand National meeting with a 15-1 Grade One double on Thursday ahead of his five-strong challenge for the Grand National on Saturday, when a fourth success in the world’s most famous steeplechase would give the trainer a share of the all-time record.
The highlight of Elliott’s afternoon was a two-and-a-quarter length defeat of Dan Skelton’s The New Lion in the Aintree Hurdle, a result which confirmed the form of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham last month, when the pair finished second and third. It was also a second course-and-distance success for Brighterdaysahead, who has yet to register a win at Cheltenham in three attempts.
That record tempers enthusiasm somewhat for the ante-post prices available for the festival in March 2027, but Brighterdaysahead will still be an exciting recruit to the novice chasing ranks if, as expected, she graduates to the bigger obstacles next season.
