Primary colours can lead to Aintree riches

You need only to look at how the popularity of the Cheltenham Festival has mushroomed, with the countdown period to the pinnacle event of the jumps season even longer than the run-up to Christmas, to realise that the time to be more interested in owners is at the big meetings.

Synonymous with the Cheltenham Festival are JP McManus, and more recently Rich Ricci and Gigginstown, while at Aintree’s Grand National meeting Trevor Hemmings is always an owner to have on your side given his love affair with the most famous chase.

Hemmings has owned three of the last 12 National winners, so with Aintree on Saturday staging a rehearsal meeting for the Grand National festival, featuring the Betfred Becher Handicap Chase and Betfred Grand Sefton Handicap Chase – which are chances for chasers to gain some experience of jumping the unique fences on the National course – you should note horses running in Hemmings’ green-and-yellow quartered silks.