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Weekend Racing Preview: Graham Cunningham on Aintree, Matt Chapman and a very bad decision....

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He's a betting and racing guru so why didn't Graham Cunningham snaffle up some of those fancy odds on the Scoop6 pool? Only he could tell you...

Idle and Raptor the two to focus on as Aintree springs to life

There is nothing worse than having a bet over the National fences and seeing your money hit the deck early on.

Backing two in the race is no guarantee of avoiding frustration, but I suspect that will my policy at Aintree on Sunday when Irish Raptor and Idle Talk line up for the featured Becher Chase (2.50).

Last year's winner Mr Pointment is among the leading fancies again for this £120,000 handicap again and his bold jumping looks bound to be a big asset after a recent spin over hurdles.

However, he needs a career best to defy a 7lb higher mark and Irish Raptor and Idle Talk appeal as better value bets under conditions which should suit them well.

Irish Raptor has jumped these daunting fences boldly on several occasions without winning and turned in a cracking performance at the National meeting when staying on strongly to go down narrowly to the Paul Nicholls-trained Gwanako in the Topham Chase.

The longer trip here ought to suit him ideally and the fact that the Nigel Twiston-Davies team are still in such fine form is an added boost to his chance.

Idle Talk hasn't quite lived up to early expectations as a chaser. Indeed, his losing sequence has crept up to 17, but his handicap mark is fair as a result. There was a lot to like about the way he jumped and travelled prior to being worn down by the bang-in-form See You There at Carlisle and Donald McCain has had this race in mind for some while now.

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Endless Power could be one for the back-to-lay brigade

Nicholls and Twiston-Davies have never been slaves to convention and that is part of what has taken them to the top of the training profession.

Twister takes the unusual step of sending The Hollow Bottom over the National obstacles after just two runs over fences in the Sefton Chase (1.40), while Nicholls is hoping his precocious five-year-old Gwanako can add to his thrilling Topham Chase win in the same contest.

Both horses deserve a prominent place on any short list, but there is one more horse in this race who keeps catching my eye.

Jim Goldie's Endless Power is the horse in question. Granted, these big fences will be new to him, but he put up the performance of his life over Aintree's Mildmay fences on Grand National day when romping away with a valuable handicap.

Bold jumping and enthusiastic galloping were the twin hallmarks of that performance. If he hits a similar rhythm again under James Reveley then his in-play odds will soon begin to shrink.

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Snooze and you lose when the killer text arrives

The problem with text messages is that you don't always take them seriously.

And when that failure to act costs you thousands then the continued presence of the message on your phone forms a painfully permanent reminder of your stupidity.

Let me explain. At 9.30 on Thursday morning I received a text from a friend and colleague with a strong Betfair connection which described the Tote's offer of 50-1 about more than £4m of new money entering this week's Scoop6 pool as "the biggest rick you will ever see."

In fact, it was the second biggest rick. The biggest was plainly my abject failure to get involved even though the friend followed up soon after with another text which read "I honestly think this should be odds on."

Those who have followed the story will be well aware that the price had been slashed to an astonishing 2-1 by the time the market was suspended at 3.21pm on Thursday and, with any number of powerful syndicates planning to carpet bomb this weekend's Scoop6, it now seems inconceivable that the gamble on the size of the pool will not be landed.

So there you have it. Instead of being the man who took 50-1 about a true odds-on chance I am now the man who has taken a slice of 1-3 about the Scoop6 finally being landed on Saturday.

It doesn't have quite the same ring to it. But maybe I can salvage the situation with one last inspired £2 line.....

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The future's Orange....but what does the future hold for cheery Chappers?

It seems you can't move on the Betfair Forum at present without tripping over a thread demanding that Attheraces should get Matt Chapman back on our screens quick sticks.

Depending on who you listen to, the orange-faced baron of the booth is either taking a holiday after completing his annual allocation of freelance shifts or suspended from duty over a row caused by comments he made about a certain rider in Ireland.

Some rumours suggest the rift is a deep one, but I suspect it won't be long before Chapman is adding his usual blend of bluster and bombast to ATR's output again. Then again, with Angus "Statto" Loughran recently relieved of his BBC duties there might just be a job going on the BBC racing team.

The idea of Chapman yeehawing his way through the Derby and Grand National meetings on the Beeb might be anathema to some, but stranger things have happened. Or have they?