The Aintree Bowl has attracted eight runners for its 2025 renewal, as Liverpool’s version of the Gold Cup looks a cracker. Joe Napier has previewed the line-up and gives his verdict below.
Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Gerri Colombe battled to a hard-fought success ove3r Ahoy Senor as the 9/4 favourite 12 months ago.
GREY DAWNING
(Dan Skelton/Harry Skelton)
As far as targets go, Dan Skelton has long been direct about the Bowl being Grey Dawning’s late season championship. Although Gold Cup dreams may have been calling early on in the campaign, he has been aimed at this since pulling up in the King George, and he looked in fine fettle when dominating in Kelso’s Listed Premier Chase last month.
That was an easy enough race for him to win in the end though and the balance of his form looks shaky for a favourite of this race. Market leaders have an excellent record here, but the eight-year-old was below his best when only third in novice company here 12 months ago, so while none of the big guns from Cheltenham challenge him here, he looks worth taking on, for all that he will come here with the ideal preparation.
SPILLANE’S TOWER
(James Joseph Mangan/Mark Walsh)
Another to skip Cheltenham, Spillane’s Tower is actually without a win this campaign, but it has felt much more productive. He really came alive in the spring last year, winning two novice Grade 1s, and opened this campaign with a narrow runner-up effort behind Fact To File in the John Durkan at Punchestown, finishing ahead of Galopin Des Champs.
Given what that winner did over roughly the same trip at Cheltenham, that looks like excellent form, and one of his novice Grade 1s was over this trip. Nevertheless, he shaped more like a non-stayer in the King George, when simply unable to go the sharp pace before fading late on. He has the ability, but his durability could come into question late on.
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GAELIC WARRIOR
(Willie Mullins/Paul Townend)
Given he won the Arkle at Cheltenham last year, it was intriguing that Gaelic Warrior missed the Festival altogether this term. The seven-year-old’s season has not worked out, being beaten twice over 2m1f at Leopardstown when looking tapped for toe over that shorter trip on quicker ground.
Going faster than soft has been his downfall in the past, but it may just be that he needs a trip to operate on it. He has won yielding in Ireland, and that was a Grade 1 novice hurdle over 3m. He is enigmatic, but likely does not lack stamina, and if he puts his best foot forward here, he could well be involved. It is certainly interesting that this is the race his rainer has nominated for him.
AHOY SENOR
(Lucinda Russell/Patrick Wadge)
It is now three successive non-completions for Ahoy Senor. After pulling up at both Haydock and Windsor earlier this campaign, he fell when attempting to make all in his third try in the Gold Cup. That was the second time he had fallen in Cheltenham’s championship contest, but he was travelling with more of his old zest at the time.
What’s more, he truly loves this place. In four visits to Aintree’s Grand National meeting, he has form figures of 1122, narrowly being denied in this contest for the last two seasons. It is where he comes alive and he looked to be trending slightly more in the right direction at Cheltenham to suggest he might not be far away in his third tilt for this title.
THE FIELD
Willie Mullins also sends Embassy Gardens, who would be yet another poignant winner having been ridden to success by Michael O’Sullivan earlier this term. He was sixth in the Irish Gold Cup when front-running and will likely attempt a similar feat, though quicker ground is even more of a query for him than it is Gaelic Warrior.
That is also the case for Djelo, but he at least looked a staying chaser in the making when winning Newbury’s Grade 2 Denman Chase in February. Venetia Williams’ stable form has fallen off markedly since the start of March though, while Paul Nicholls’ has trended upwards slightly. It is still below Ditcheat’s usual standards, but Stage Star, like Djelo, looked to have improved for a step up in trip when second in the Cotswold Chase to L’Homme Presse.
That form is solid given he was conceding weight, though his Aintree record is patchy. The Real Whacker is last in, but ran solidly enough in the Gold Cup given he jumped poorly and he certainly isn’t making up the numbers if on a going day.
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Easter can play havoc with the positioning of horse racing fixtures at this time of year and the recovery time from the Cheltenham to Aintree festivals can vary markedly. Last year, Grand National Day fell on April 13th, 32 days after the runner jumped off for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, whereas in 2022 the gap…
Tue 01 Apr 2025VERDICT
This could realistically go any of eight ways, making this a fascinating Grade 1. Although favourites have a great record here, neither Grey Dawning nor Spillane’s Tower entirely convince, the former on form and track grounds, the latter in terms of stamina. As a result, it may be worth siding with the unpredictable GAELIC WARRIOR, who won over 3m s a novice hurdler despite mostly operating over 2m over fences. On quicker ground conditions, he may just need a trip to be seen to best effect, and his Arkle performance was one of a high quality racehorse when he shows his best. Ahoy Senor is feared most at his beloved Aintree, having been second in this for the last two years.
- Gaelic Warrior
- Ahoy Senor
- Spillane’s Tower
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