The feature race of the afternoon at Aintree on day one of the festival is the Grade One Aintree Bowl over 3m1f and Bravemansgame is the horse they all have to beat.
Bravemansgame has looked a completely different horse this season, a more rounded and professional version of himself that can now be counted as one of the leading staying chasers in the sport at the moment.
Always showing bits of superb form throughout his career over hurdles but more so over fences, this term he has put it all together landing the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase on seasonal debut before going to Kempton on Boxing Day and showing that he truly finishes out his races now when beating L’Homme Presse comfortably after the last.
Not seen since then until the Cheltenham Gold Cup, there were still question marks whether he would handle the step up in trip and the track, but he ran an absolute screamer jumping the best in the field and just up the hill was beaten by the superstar Galopin Des Champs.
There is no Galopin Des Champs in this field and although Conflated ran a cracker in the Gold Cup, A Plus Tard looked to be back somewhere near his best before hitting some bad luck and Shishkin at the top of the market will certainly appreciate the step up in trip.
For us Bravemansgame this season has shown by far the best solid form over this staying trip and although Aintree has not been a happy hunting ground for him over the years, this term he looks a different animal and where he has came here and underperformed, we think he can show the same form he has all season.