Get the bowl out to Begg the bookies for a bit of value at Ascot.
BALLYBEGG (3.00) should make our efforts pay after slicing through the mud to win at Uttoxeter last time out.
It didn't work out for him in two starts over fences earlier in the season and the blinkers he wore when returned to hurdles over Christmas seem to have done the trick.
The form of that Uttoxeter win is good and young jockey Daire McConville is exceptionally good for his 10lbs weight claim. Have 2pts each-way at 10-1 and make sure you're on with one of the bookies paying out on five places.
The big race of the day, the Betfair Ascot Chase, is a tight affair but LOSTINTRANSLATION (3.38) looks way overpriced.
He won over this course and distance earlier in the season and it's not worth worrying about his ordinary King George effort as he's never run well in that race.
It's only a couple of years since he was third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and that proven stamina will come in handy as there's likely to be a good early pace. Have 1pt each-way at 14-1.
Earlier on the card, FORTESCUE (2.25) should like the testing conditions.
Henry Daly's chaser stays really well and he's been in good form recently. His third behind Gold Cup hope Royale Pagaille at Haydock last month, when his jumping was excellent, was probably his best effort to date.
This distance is the minimum for him so I'm expecting jockey Hugh Nugent to ride him a bit more prominently this time to help bring his stamina into play. Have 1pt each-way at 11-1 with William Hill paying out on four places.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed Haydock's card passes the early-morning inspection as our old friend LORD DU MESNIL (2.40) will love the heavy conditions.
This William Hill Grand National Trial is his race.
He won it last year having finished runner-up in this 3m4f marathon contest 12 months earlier.
He's only a pound higher in the weights this time and he simply dances across the mud at Haydock.
This extreme test is just what he wants so I'm expecting him to bounce back from last month's below-par run over shorter. Have 1pt each-way at 12-1 with several bookies paying out on four places.
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