Five runners go to post for Thursday’s Grade One Aintree Bowl Chase at Aintree at 2:55. The favourite is a Gold Cup runner-up. The most interesting challenger is a horse that turned down the Grand National to be here.
Welcome to one of the better staying contests of the spring.
The Racing Welfare Bowl Chase is run over three miles and one furlong on the Mildmay course at Aintree, and this year’s renewal is competitive despite a small field.
Five horses line up on Thursday afternoon, the market has settled firmly on one of them, but Grade Ones with small fields can be deceptive, and there are reasons to think the favourite will not have it entirely his own way.
The Favourite: Jango Baie
Nicky Henderson’s Jango Baie won the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2025 and has spent the season since proving he is a horse capable of operating at the very highest level over a longer trip.
He ran second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last month, beaten eight lengths by Gaelic Warrior, but that bare result does not tell the whole story.
He travelled powerfully for much of the race and only faded in the final stages of a contest run at a fierce pace.
Nico de Boinville keeps the ride, and this is a horse who has looked the part at this level all season.
The Challenger: Spillane’s Tower
Here is where the race gets interesting. Spillane’s Tower was entered in the Grand National, and many expected him to line up at Aintree on Saturday. In fact, he was declared for the race and is officially still a runner.
Instead, Jimmy Mangan’s eight-year-old was declared for the Bowl, and he arrives on the back of a performance that puts him firmly in contention.
In January, Spillane’s Tower won the Betfair Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham by three-quarters of a length from L’Homme Presse, with Grey Dawning a further four lengths back in third.
He had previously won a Grade One at Fairyhouse and the Champion Novice Chase at Punchestown in 2024, and the Cotswold Chase suggested he has continued to develop.
The Gold Cup was the original plan. Mangan withdrew him on the morning of the race when the ground was deemed too quick, and the Bowl at Aintree, on going that will be more forgiving, has become the target instead.
Mangan has been direct about his horse’s requirements: “He has to have juice in the ground.” Good to Soft at Aintree in April suits him well.
He has a useful form line through the Cotswold Chase, where he beat Grey Dawning convincingly.
Jango Baie was only eight lengths in front of Grey Dawning at the Gold Cup. Connect those dots however you choose, but there is a case that Spillane’s Tower and the favourite are closer together than the market suggests.
The Veteran Challengers: Pic D’Orhy and Protektorat
Pic D’Orhy, Paul Nicholls’ eleven-year-old ridden by Harry Cobden, is a horse who has been campaigned carefully and is well-suited by this kind of target. He has been around long enough to know his job, and Nicholls rarely sends horses to Aintree without believing they are ready.
Protektorat is a different proposition entirely. Dan Skelton’s eleven-year-old, with Harry Skelton in the saddle as ever, brings a formidable CV to this race.
He won the Fitzdares Fleur de Lys Chase at Windsor in January, his second consecutive win in that race, and his record at the Mildmay course is strong. He ran second in the Melling Chase here last April and was third in the same race the year before.
Skelton was direct after the Windsor win: “We always know how well Protektorat will run for us and he always does.” At eleven, he retains all his enthusiasm and remains a horse capable of landing a race like this on his day.
The Mullins Horse: Impaire Et Passe
Willie Mullins sends Impaire Et Passe with Paul Townend up, a horse with a solid Grade One profile who has not always delivered on his potential in the biggest races.
He has ability, but in a field where Jango Baie and Spillane’s Tower are both in good form, he would need to find his best to get involved.
The Verdict
In a five-runner Aintree Bowl Chase, the market is generally efficient. Jango Baie is the class act, and his Gold Cup run confirms he belongs at the top level over this trip. He deserves to start favourite and is the most likely winner.
But Spillane’s Tower makes the race genuinely interesting. Kept fresh since January, arriving on ground that suits. At a bigger price than the favourite, he represents value.
However, Protektorat may be the one the market has underestimated.
BETFRED
