THE track may be modified and the famous fences on the Grand National track may be smaller but Aintree's reputation as the home of equine drama can only have been made more secure by yesterday's dramatics.
From the Irish point of view possibly the most haunting moment of the day came between the third last and second last fences of the Martell Cup when it became clear that Merry Gale had hit an almost literal version of the marathon wall.
Conor O'Dwyer had the agonising experience of suddenly realising that the horse that had carried him into the lead so easily only 100 yards previously was running on empty. Barton Bank, on whom David Walsh had been working like a dervish, suddenly led again at the second last and ran nine lengths clear of the Jim Dreaper trained chaser.
"Once he came off the bridle and the others came back, he just walked home," shrugged O'Dwyer. A typically pragmatic Dreaper announced that the Galway Plate will now be Merry Gale's major target, especially considering the horse's career is on a tight schedule.
"The horse does have a larynx problem and our vets have told us not to plan too far ahead for next season. We will do what we did years ago with Leap Frog and give Merry Gale six weeks oft, then six weeks on and go for Galway.
I'm very pleased with his performance today. Ideally we might have liked to have held on to him a bit longer but basically he didn't win because he wasn't good enough. As they say he hit the wall," Dreaper said
For Clane-born Walsh (22), the leading conditional rider in Britain this season, the Martell was the biggest success of his career and he continues to impress Barton Bank's trainer David Nicholson. He gave him a superb ride. David only rode him initially because the owners wanted him to but now David's won this and was second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on him," said Nicholson.
Yesterday's race had been opened up when the enigmatic favourite One Man was pulled up by a blood spattered Richard Dunwoody after only 10 fences having burst a blood vessel.
"As far as I know this is the first time One Man has done it," reported Dunwoody.
David Walsh wasn't the only young British-based Irish rider to impress and if anything Glenn Tormey's performance in winning the John Hughes Trophy on Bells Life over the Grand National fences was even more eye-catching.
Normally the dangers are over once the last fence is behind a jockey but as Tormey (24) from Ashbourne drove Bells Life towards the elbow, the loose horses Master Boston and Kings Cherry threatened to force Bells Life left into jumping the railed-off Chair fence.
Not only was Tormey riding for the firs time over the course but in addition to the threat from his right, he was also blinded by the bright sun. Panic wasn't an option, however, and Tormey coolly steered his errant mount between the two loose horses only for them to follow him and carry him across to the other side of the track.
This allowed Yeoman Warrior back into it hut Tormey had the battle mist in front of his eyes at this stage and drove Bells Life home ahead.
"The sun was very bright, my horse was hanging anyway and I had my head down and was guessing where the elbow was anyway - but in the end the loose horses were more of a help than a hinderance. They gave my horse something to chase," said Tormey modestly.
David Nicholson was finding modesty hard to achieve on a very successful day as apart from Barton Bank he also won the opening Seagram Hurdle with Midnight Legend and the concluding Barton and Guestier Handicap Hurdle with Escartefigue. Typically though, he also pondered on those that had got away.
"We could have had five. Mulligan looked to have his race won and L'Opera fell in the Glenlivet Novices Hurdle," Nicholson said.
It was hard to disagree. Mulligan looked to have Squire Silk cold in the Sandeman Novices Chase when he stood off much too far from the second last and paid the price. Squire Silk was almost brought down by Mulligan's scrambling legs and also gave Jamie Osborne a fright at the last before winning.
L'Opera also crashed at the second last but he would have been hard pressed to have caught the winner Quakers Field who Dean Gallagher brought from the back of the field to win impressively.
Mulligan will bid for compensation at the Punchestown Festival and will be accompanied by stablemate Midnight Legend who finished too powerfully for the favourite Sharpical in the novices hurdle.
"Ultimately we will make a stallion of him but for now David is talking about Punchestown for him," said Midnight Legend's owner Stan Clarke. "Next year we will think of races like the Fighting Fifth and the Christmas Hurdle before sending him to stud," he added.
. Two horses were prevented from running at Aintree yesterday due to the hold ups on the motorways caused by a series of bomb alerts believed to the work of the IRA. The M1, M5 and the M6 were all affected by bomb scares resulting in severe traffic congestion. Both Fasil, an intended runner in the fifth race, and Making Time, an entry in the hunters chase, didn't even make it to the course.
