Josh The Boss has the Neild family smiling

There were emotional scenes on Merseyside as hometown jockey Jamie Neild steered his father John’s Josh The Boss to victory in the Play Lucky Stable With William Hill Handicap Chase at Aintree.

The seven-year-old is trained by Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies for the Liverpudlian jockey and owner duo and it proved a poignant success in a week were the amateur rider’s step-father sadly died.

“It was a lovely performance and I think it was minor trainer error up at Wetherby first time as he probably needed the run, but we knew he liked Aintree so it seemed the logical next step to come here,” said Willy Twiston-Davies of the 13-2 winner.

“We were quite confident going into it and he’s a lovely horse. It’s special for John with his association with Aintree. I loved the way he jumped and Jamie gave him a beautiful ride so it’s a special day for the whole family.

“The whole family were here to witness it and this horse pulls a good one out of the bag every year.”

Earlier on the card Javert Allen successfully hunted down Aintree specialist Sans Bruit in the nick of time to land the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap Chase.

Paul Nicholls’ dual Red Rum Handicap winner made a bold bid from the front under Jay Tidball, but Ciaran Gethings never let the front-runner have too much rope.

Although it looked like the Ditcheat contender had plenty in reserve, a fine leap at the last gave Javert Allen a good chance of reeling in the leader and as they flashed by the winning post in virtual unison, it was Jane Williams’ charge that was a neck to the good at odds of 4-1.

Williams said: “Our horses have been needing a gallop and we’ve been hitting the crossbar a lot which has been frustrating but Ciaran knew he had to keep a little bit up his sleeve and has given him a spot-on ride.

“It was all about getting started today and I thought we would place but maybe not win, but it was lovely to see. He’s a two-miler who likes flat tracks and this was the perfect race for him. I was really pleased he showed guts and was determined.”

Dan Skelton’s 8-11 favourite Old Coast Road saw off his only rival to land the opening William Hill Epic Boosts EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Skelton said: “It was a shame for the racecourse to only get two runners. I think Aintree have done an unbelievable job to get the ground to where it is, but we are now in winter and some of them probably want it slower than it is.

“This is a nice horse. He got beat in a bumper when he just got out-muscled but two and a half miles is a bit more like it for him. I don’t know where we’ll go next.”

The champion trainer book-ended the card when 13-8 market leader Al Calpony won the concluding William Hill Extra Places Every Day ‘Junior’ National Hunt Flat Race.