No excuse for Strong Leader at Liverpool

OLLY Murphy will have “no excuses” when Strong Leader returns to his beloved Aintree looking to reclaim his Jet2 Liverpool Hurdle crown.

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The winner of the race in 2024, the nine-year-old was second 12 months ago and is now back on Merseyside having been freshened up ahead of a Grade One that is always his end-of-season goal.

“This has been the plan since Trials day (at Cheltenham in January). He's had another wind operation and we're fitting him with a tongue-tie for the first time,” said Murphy.

“He absolutely loves the place and there will be no excuses, he's in fantastic nick.

“This is absolutely the race we circle on the calendar at the start of every year, we have to keep him fresh for this. We keep him busy in the autumn and then really freshen him up for this each year and I'm really look forward to running him.”