Aintree Day 1 Tips: Mark Milligan fancies Gerri Colombe to lift Grade 1 Bowl

• A cracking renewal of the Bowl chase highlights the first day of Aintree

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Rachael Blackmore Superboost!

Betfair ambassador Rachael Blackmore has a great chance on Bob Olinger in the 15:30 at Aintree today, and if you fancy the horse to run well you can back today's Betfair Superboost for her to finish in the top two at 1/12.00 (was [8/15!]).

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14:55 - Bowl Chase: Back Gerri Colombe @ 11/82.38

The 3m 1f Grade 1 Bowl Chase (14:55) is the highlight of Aintree day one and it has several layers of intrigue, with the likes of Gerri Colombe and Bravemansgame representing the Gold Cup form, the enigmatic Shishkin aiming to bounce back having had to miss Cheltenham, while we also have a high-level novice in the shape of Corbetts Cross.

Gordon Elliott's Gerri Colombe is the obvious starting point, as he brings arguably the strongest piece of form to the party courtesy of his fine runner-up effort to Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham showpiece.

That was a career best by some way from the eight-year-old and he may have pushed the excellent winner even closer had he not made a couple of minor jumping errors late in the piece.

Whilst clearly a horse who goes well fresh (was returning from 78 days away in the Gold Cup), Gerri Colombe also showed at this meeting last year that he can back up relatively quickly, taking the Mildmay Novices' Chase having finished runner-up in the Brown Advisory at the Festival.

He looks sure to take all the beating.

Shishkin was forced to miss the Gold Cup following an unsatisfactory scope and last year's winner of this race will be a threat to all if over what was ailing him there.

As regular readers will know, he was my ante-post pick to win the Gold Cup and I'm not deserting him willingly, but the form of the Henderson stable is still something of a concern having all but closed down around Cheltenham time.

The stable did have a winner last week, though, so there is some encouragement in that regard.

The novice Corbetts Cross is the new shooter to this division and he could hardly have been more impressive when winning the National Hunt Chase on Cheltenham's opening day.

Despite stepping up markedly in trip there, that race didn't place a strong emphasis on stamina, so I don't envisage the drop back to this trip being any sort of concern for Corbetts Cross, who doesn't look short of speed for a stayer.

The bigger question is whether his relative lack of chasing experience will catch him out against some high-class, battle-hardened opponents, and his current price of 10/34.33 seems short enough when you consider he probably needs to take another significant step forward (18lb with Shishkin on Timeform ratings).

Bravemansgame and Ahoy Senor are others to consider, though the former's efforts this season have generally been a notch below where he was last term, while the latter needs to prove he can reverse form from this race last season with Shishkin.

To sum up, this year's Bowl looks a strong renewal, although Gerri Colombe comes into it with far less question marks against him than some of his rivals and it will be a surprise to me if he doesn't prove good enough to gain quick compensation for his Gold Cup defeat.

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15:30 - Aintree Hurdle: Back Impaire Et Passe @ 7/42.75

Bob Olinger - representing the same owners as Gerri Colombe - sets a decent standard in the following 2m 4f Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle (15:30), but I'm not convinced he'll confirm the form from last time with Impaire Et Passe, and I'm taking Willie Mullins' charge to come out on top.

Last season's top novice hurdler, it's probably fair to say Impaire Et Passe hasn't gone on this term, but he's best forgiven for his Irish Champion Hurdle third to State Man and Bob Olinger last time, where he seemed patently unsuited by having to make his own running.

Prior to that he'd finished a good second to Stayers' Hurdle winner Teahupoo in the Hatton's Grace and filled the same position behind State Man in the Matheson.

Those efforts were much more in line with what Impaire Et Passe was achieving as a novice and it's no disgrace to lose out to a pair that won Championship races at the Cheltenham Festival.

Bob Olinger was one place ahead of the selection in that Irish Champion Hurdle last time and he's rightly favoured on the back of that effort, though whether things pan out as well this time - particularly if Impaire Et Passe reverts to more patient tactics - remains to be seen.

Nicky Henderson's Luccia ran a cracker to finish third to State Man in the Champion Hurdle last time, particularly given how out of form most runners from the stable were at that time, and she can come out best of the rest, though she probably needs to take another step forward to win this.

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Now Read: Mark Milligan's Three to Follow in the Grand National

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