SATURDAY

9.20pm Far Hills, America

Brain Power

I’m off to the States on Friday to ride Brain Power in the American Grand National at Far Hills, and I’d like to think he has a decent enough chance of scooping a very big pot, or at least some of the prize money.

He flew over last Thursday and was out of quarantine on Sunday, and he has settled in really well at Leslie Young’s, I believe.

I can’t readily recall a track here that compares with Far Hills, but I suppose it is more like a point-to-point course in that they rarely race there and it is tight and flat. That should suit my horse though, as should the expected quick ground.

Brain Power goes there in really good form, too. He has done two really good bits of work at Kempton on the all-weather in preparation for this, and I rode him on the latest occasion when he clocked a very good time over 2m2f.

As ever, he has worked and schooled nicely at home, too.

The 2m5f trip is an unknown for him but, as I said, the tight track should help on that front and we know what a class performer he is at his best.

The problem is that the great prize money on offer has led to Willie [Mullins] and Gordon [Elliott] coming over in force too, so this is probably one of the best renewals of the race.

This certainly looks a much hotter contest than the one Jury Duty won last year – Gordon also sends over the very smart The Storyteller – and you would probably have to say that Wicklow Brave is very much the one to beat given what he has done in 2019.

But we will give it our best shot with Brain Power.