Nicky Henderson has a terrific record in this race and Vegas Blue is taken to benefit from a nice weight-advantage on hurdle debut.
She will have to jump tidy against those with experience but she looked a nice filly when winning a listed bumper on return and the yard are having a good time of things.
Connections landed this prize with Glen Forsa last season and Hold The Note went into the tracker when third on chase debut.
He was heavily backed that day and ran an eye-catching race, ultimately shaping as though he would improve for the experience.
If jumping more fluently he rates a strong e/w bet.
A typically competitive renewal of the Kauto Star Novices’ chase.
The market leader Slate House looks to hold strong claims having bounced back to form this season, even more so if the rain pours, and Paul Nicholls has every chance with his two-pronged attack in Master Tommytucker and Danny Whizzbang.
We are siding with Black Op though. He is the highest-rated horse in the field and his chase form, even from last season where he was apparently ‘not at is best’, reads exceptionally-well.
He finished behind Defi De Seuil and Topofthegame on his first try over fences before doing the same behind the former and Lostintranslation on his second attempt.
Neither of these were bad efforts and he returned this season with a cruising 15l victory, before only being defeated by RSA favourite Champ at Newbury.
Nicky Henderson has dominated this race in recent years and Fusil Raffles, who is currently around 13/8, is likely to be popular amongst punters.
With ten set to go to post we are looking to bet e/w here however, with his talented mare Epatante looking overpriced at 6/1.
She looked better than ever when bolting up on return at Newbury and we are willing to forgive her poor effort at the festival.
This is a fascinating renewal of the King George. Clan Des Obeaux won the race last year, Footpad looked back to his best on return and Thistlecrack is sure to run his race at the grand of age off 11, but the pair to focus on is Cyrname and Lostintranslation.
For us, the former is going to be hard to peg back if getting into a rhythm, though Colin Tizzard’s charge tanks through his races and is sure to mount a serious challenge. Cyrname takes yards from his opponents from fence-to-fence and he looked in good nick when lowering the colours of Altior recently.
Nicholls’ horses have been improving for the run and this is also his second start since undergoing wind-surgery.
This 6-y-o gelding boasts some interesting pieces of form and there is definitely room in his 134 rating.
He finished behind Song For Someone at Ffos Las recently, who has since placed in a listed event, but more notably he got the better of Glen Forsa last season; as well as finishing behind Elixir De Nutz.
He is prolific with cut in the ground so hopefully the ground doesn’t dry up too much.
