MOSCOW FLYER is something more than an institution. Enthusiastically applauded from the parade ring, the pride of Ireland was raucously celebrated as he returned in triumph from the John Smith’s Melling Chase at Aintree yesterday. It was the 11-year-old’s nineteenth victory from as many completed starts over fences, and among the easiest yet.
There was a joyful zest in the way Moscow Flyer dismantled the latest to threaten his hegemony. They could not extend him at the start and were left exhausted long before a finish in which this model racehorse sauntered home in splendid isolation. The extent of his superiority was such that Barry Geraghty, his regular partner, still had Moscow Flyer in check when he assumed command of the contest after two miles.