Triolo D'Alene (14/1) continued a dream day for Barry Geraghty and Nicky Henderson with victory in the John Smith's Topham Chase at Aintree. A treble from Henderson, with 2 races still to run where he has more chances with Free Thinking and Khyber Kim, amongst others. The jockeys were notably keen to get underway with the race and the starter was forced to recall them on a couple of occasions before finally letting them start.
Dunowen Point, Gullible Gordon and Sizing Santiago were among those to race prominently throughout but the leaders were to come back to the field as they reached the final three fences, and Barry Geraghty looked to be traveling as well as any on the winner.
Geraghty, made his move for home before the elbow and though Walkon emerged as a live threat deep inside the final furlong, there was still three-quarters of a length between the pair as they reached the line.Last Time D'Albain ran on to be third with Dunowen Point clinging on for fourth.Unfortunately Little Josh took a heavy fall at the 15th fence and was sadly put-down. Thoughts go out to the Twiston-Davies family. RIP Little Josh.Now, on to the incredible Sprinter Sacre (pictured below). A step up in distance made no difference to this Superstar as he turned in another breathtaking performance to take the John Smith's Melling Chase at Aintree.Nicky Henderson's incredibly talented seven-year-old had stretched his unbeaten record over fences to eight with an imperious display in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, but was stepping into the unknown on Merseyside.
