Commander the star on day one Imperial Commander is just one of a list of star performers on show as the three-day John Smith's Grand National meeting gets underway at Aintree this afternoon with three Grade 1 events. The Cheltenham Gold Cup hero faces four rivals in the Totesport Bowl Chase, with What A Friend, Nacarat, Calgary Bay and Carruthers also lining up in this 3m1f test. Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies has no fears about the flat track saying, "Imperial Commander is in very good form. The owners did take a bit of persuading to let him run again but we're ready to go and we'll see what happens. "People will say he does most of his winning at Cheltenham but that doesn't worry me at all. There wasn't much wrong with his run at Haydock earlier in the season and Haydock is quite similar to Aintree in many ways. "The only reason he's done most of his winning at Cheltenham is because that's where he runs most, and it's not a bad place to be winning." Paul Nicholls reports What A Friend in good form. "We have purposefully kept him nice and fresh by missing Cheltenham and the drying conditions will really help. "Imperial Commander is the champion now, the Gold Cup holder and a horse who is going to be very hard to beat. What we have got on our side is being fresh, as the other horses have had harder seasons." Nicholls and stable jockey Ruby Walsh have a number of fancied runners on the card, notably Big Buck's in the opening Bgc Partners Liverpool Hurdle and Sanctuaire, who also tackles Grade 1 company in the Matalan Anniversary 4YO Novices' Hurdle. Big Buck's is sure to go off at prohibitive odds after chief rival Time For Rupert was ruled out yesterday following a bad scope, leaving just seven rivals against the dual World Hurdle victor. Time For Rupert's trainer Paul Webber relayed the bad news saying, "He's had a trachea wash this morning and he's just not quite as healthy as he should be. "It's a bit disappointing but it's just one of those things and we'll have to see what happens next. We have the possibility of going to Punchestown but he may just be telling us that he's done enough for this season. "He's certainly done more than we could have expected and we will look forward to next season, where he will probably go novice chasing."
