Leader holds on to £39,150 first prize on a nerve-racking final day

Forget the drama of the Grand National, the final day of the Aintree meeting was one of nerve-racking tension for Ggcc2, who led the Tote Ten To Follow competition into its final few hours in pursuit of the £39,150 first prize.

Not that Ggcc2 had been out in front for long and was wandering close home with pressure mounting. It was only the victories of Epatante in Thursday’s Aintree Hurdle and Fakir D’Oudairies in Friday’s Marsh Chase, with the 54.80 and 53.11 points those Grade 1 successes garnered, that had put Ggcc2 at the head of the field.

Flooring Porter and Edwardstone were warm orders to seal the deal for the leader on National day but neither managed to add more than a few points for finishing second, while the threat of a rival emerging from the pack with a sackful of points remained.

Epatante and Aidan Coleman provide a significant success in the Aintree HurdleCredit: Edward Whitaker

As events unfolded, with the Grand National winner Noble Yeats yielding 102.80 points for just 0.1 per cent of stables, Sire Du Berlais bringing 69.50 points to 0.5 per cent of teams in the Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle and Gentleman De Mee’s defeat of Edwardstone in the Maghull Chase yielding 31.10 points to 0.1 per cent of players, there were not enough popular picks in other teams to unseat the leader from atop the pile.

At the line, Ggcc2 had a margin of 49.43 points over second-placed Ladies First 7, who collects £13,423, while third-placed Shed The Frog 33 wins £11,186. There were prizes for the first 100 players (the 51st-100th receive £89) and the 101st to 500th get their £5 entry back.

The winner was helped to victory by swapping in leading novice chasers L’Homme Presse and Edwardstone in the transfer window before their festival successes, while the mares Honeysuckle and Epatante led the way for the team, although in overall scoring Commander Of Fleet brought the greatest return with 161.70 points.

The Tote Ten To Follow will be back with the Flat competition so it will be important to scrutinise every Classic trial and every promising maiden to get the edge on rivals in the months ahead.

TOP HORSES - JUMPS 2021-22
1 Commander Of Fleet 161.70 points
2 Edwardstone 143.52
3 Honeysuckle 132.25
4 Epatante 124.50
5 A Plus Tard 122.10
6 Allaho 103.78
7 Noble Yeats 102.80
8 Conflated 100.50
9 Ahoy Senor 88.93
10 Jonbon 88.31

FINAL TABLE
1 Ggcc2 923.49 points
2 Ladies First 7 874.06
3 Shed The Frog 33 855.93
4 Phoney27 848.79
5 Mullys Gold A1 848.02
6 Chunito 847.97
7 Tim Bobbin Punters 60 847.28
8 BB 101 Denis2 846.08
9 Roy’s Racing 845.31
10 Bobby Mangan 1 836.50

WINNING STABLE - Ggcc2 923.49 points
Honeysuckle 132.25 points
Epatane 124.50
A Plus Tard 122.10
Allaho 103.78
Fakir D’Oudairies 82.56
Flooring Porter 71.50
Bob Olinger 56.92
Edwardstone 56.40
L’Homme Presse 54.75
Shishkin 48.29

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