RACING judge RACING fan Josh Jones (@TheRacingJones) shares his views on Sunday's big race from Aintree.
15.00 Aintree | Sunday 27th October 2019
Without a doubt the most intriguing battle in the UK on Sunday is in the Old Roan Handicap Chase over at Aintree. With some classy horses fighting it out over the 2m3f trip, this is one that you won’t want to miss.
The two biggest and most proven threats in the race are Kalashnikov and Frodon, who both boast fantastic career records to date. They both like to lead from the front, along with Bigmarte, which could cause problems for the rest of the field as the pacesetters can also stay for days; if the pace is quickened then this field could get left behind gradually.
Kalashnikov (5/4 Bet365) is certainly the most feared in the line-up and the one to beat here as he has already proved to be a champion at top level with underfoot conditions – one of his biggest and best successes coming at course and distance last time out at the Grand National meeting in April during the Manifesto, a Grade 1 contest. In all of his career starts Kalashnikov has never finished outside of the top two places apart from one unseated ride.
Frodon (2/1 William Hill) has very similar credentials and returns into this race after winning it back in 2018, he is 11 pounds higher than that success here however. Bryony Frost and Frodon formed a match made in heaven last season after winning the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham, admired by many on this day for the pure heart and desire that was shown to win.
This will be an even harder task as Frodon must give away considerable weight to opponents and will not benefit from Bryony’s three pound claim this time.
This will be an extremely intriguing race, Kalashnikov is the one to beat but Bryony and Frodon won’t give up without a fight.
