Dark horses in the handicap chases at Aintree The Grand National Festival at Aintree takes place from Thursday 3rd - Saturday 5th April, with three days of eagerly anticipated action on Merseyside. Following hot on the heels of Cheltenham, the Aintree meeting is the second of the major spring festivals across Britain and Ireland to look forward to. Below are some possible dark horses to look out for in the handicaps over fences at Aintree's big meeting. Henry's Friend The Ben Pauling-trained Henry's Friend went into the Ultima having scored on his previous start at Newbury (3m2f, good to soft) in December and he ran at Cheltenham off a career-high mark of 145. He travelled well for a long way but tired up the hill to finish eighth in a race utterly dominated by Myretown in front. A combination of more than two months off, his new mark and the Cheltenham hill could all be possible reasons for his wilting. He was pulled up in the National Hunt Cup last year and perhaps the Cotswolds venues doesn't bring out the best in him. Aintree could be much more to his liking and he's still only had eight runs over fences. Traprain Law Lucinda Russell was on the scoresheet at Cheltenham with Myretown in the Ultima, but she would also have taken some positives from seeing Traprain Law post a decent seventh behind Jazzy Matty in the Grand Annual. Twice a winner last season over fences at Kelso and Ayr, he was second behind Tommy's Oscar in a decent contest at the former venue in the spring. He's twice run well this season over 2m4f at Carlisle and Musselburgh and perhaps the drop back in trip at Cheltenham caught him out a touch. He'd eased 4lb by the time he went to Cheltenham and there's scope in him from his current perch, especially should he rise in trip this spring. Insurrection Insurrection was hit with an 8lb rise following his easy success in the Frodon Novices' Limited Handicap Chase at Musselburgh during Scottish Trials Weekend in February. Paul Nicholls sent him out in the Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase at Cheltenham where he was just better than midfield as stablemate Caldwell Potter scored emphatically. Insurrection has taken well to chasing this season and his Ditcheat handler may feel there's more to come from him at increased trips. Booster Bob Olly Murphy has already got two wins from Booster Bob this season, scoring at Ffos Las over 2m in October and then Newbury over 2m4f in March. In between there have been good runs in defeat at Warwick, Aintree and Chepstow and his overall form figures over fences are now 13231. A further step up in trip could soon beckon for the seven-year-old Malinas gelding. His Greatwood Gold Cup win at Newbury last time came off a mark of 126 and it's far from sure we have seen his best stuff yet. He has plenty of scope to improve as his stamina is explored further and, interestingly, Murphy still has him on the list of possibles for the Topham at Aintree. Get €50 in FREE bets with TalkSPORT BET to spend on the Aintree Festival:
