The names of the two horses involved in that remarkable achievement are State Of Play and Cappa Bleu. Most people only dream of winning the Aintree spectacular, but Williams may just be getting that glint of hope in his eye of actually winning the big one with Cesar Collonges (1.00), who runs at Carlisle and is on offer at 11-4. He was foaled by a half-sister to the dam of Neptune Collonges, who won the 2012 Grand National for Paul Nicholls. There was money on Sunday night for a Kevin Ryan-trained rival, Canny Style, who has won five times on the Flat. It will be fascinating to see who emerges best of these two in this novice hurdle clash between a fresh recruit from the level and an expensive jumping-bred purchase.

Source: The Guardian November 13, 2017 09:22 UTC