Saturday ITV Racing Tips & Preview

Unbeaten in two starts at Ascot, ARPEGE D’ALENE (Best price 13-8) could be the answer to a tricky race. Although the selection doesn’t make life easy for his rider, the blinkers appear to have straightened him out to some extent and he performed with credit in a decent Cheltenham handicap last time. I quite like the angle of horses with handicap experience returning to the novice ranks and he gains the nod at the expense of Bigbadjohn.

This race could turn out to be a real burn up with O’Faolains Boy, Tenor Nivernais, Cloudy Too all keen to be ridden forward, while Go Conquer made all to win round Wincanton last spring. The novice CHEF D’OEUVRE (Best price 7-2) doesn’t need to lead, but he does need a good test and he will also be ridden forcefully off his light-weight providing he can find a rhythm at his early fences. Warren Greatrex’s young chaser destroyed a field of novices at Hereford in deep ground last time and will relish the test this race will offer.

The layers haven’t missed the chances of TEMPLEROSS(Best price 4-1) in this event and understandably so given his trainer has been the go-to-man for a number of Saturdays since the turn of the year. The classy Modus proved too strong for the selection at Kempton in a warm handicap which is working out well (3rd and 5th have both won since) and a 3lb rise doesn’t look prohibitive. Doesyourdogbite was sixth home that day and looks one of the chief dangers as he had previously looked highly progressive even when his stable were going through a subdued period.

In all honesty with upwards of 9lb in hand of his five rivals, Cue Card could outclass his adversaries as he builds up to another tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The King George runner-up will be a prohibitive price to win this race for the second time, but this season’s evidence suggests he may not quite be the horse he was and TAQUIN DU SEUIL (Best price 8-1) is put forward as a value alternative. The selection ran well in The Lexus when his yard were bang out of form he and should enjoy the likelihood of a decent pace set by confirmed front-runner Royal Regatta. Any further rain would also play to his strengths as he is 4-4 on heavy and has a very potent record in small fields.

Paul Nicholls has wasted little time switching Aux Ptits Soins back to hurdles after a lacklustre round of fencing at Doncaster last time and the ex-Coral Cup winner could be a highly interesting runner if he finally realises some of the potential he shows at Ditcheat. That said, there are serious question marks surrounding the grey and his stablemate Zarkandar so the answer to this heat could be Relkeel Hurdle winner AGRAPART (Best price 2-1) who will relish any further deterioration in the ground and appears to be thriving at present. Beating the underachieving L’Ami Serge at Cheltenham was still a decent effort considering the selection was disadvantaged by the terms of the race and the Nick Williams stable have found a little consistency of late.

There is every chance this will be one of the most competitive qualifiers run this season given most of the participants will need to win this to sneak into the final of this series. A minimum rating of 135 was required to qualify 12 months ago so MYDOR (Best price 8-1) could arguably do with a ratings rise to insure he makes the Festival. Tony Martin’s gelding was given a typically patient ride to take second in a warm Leopardstown affair last time which is working out well enough and is unsurprisingly reaching a peak as Cheltenham arrives on the horizon.

Tom Scudamore boasts the remarkable figures of 1111113311121 when he has completed aboard VIEUX LION ROUGE (Best price 7-1) and the duo look a potent combination in this Grand National Trial. The pairing were at it again at Aintree before Christmas when wrestling victory from the gallant Highland Lodge’s grasp in the Becher Chase and, although the selection’s jumping has never been totally foot perfect, the fact he has jumped round Liverpool twice shows he is maturing. That is the view of his trainer too who reports him a stronger horse this year and he could be the answer to a tricky handicap.

Sue Smith hasn’t run many horses recently but those she has have gone well and WAKANDA (Best price 11-1) is also worth a small investment. Strip out two failures to complete in the spring in Grade 1 and 2 events which were beyond him, Wakanda has a highly respectable record at Class 1 level with figures of 214111752. The eight-year-old looks as though he is running himself into form and is unbeaten in two starts in races of 13 or more runners which suggests he loves the competitive nature of a big-field event.

Backing YANWORTH (Best price 4-5) is not my idea of a good time as I still have reservations about his hurdling at race speed and I’m not convinced he is a two miler at Grade 1 level yet. That said, the ground should be slow enough to blunt the speed of Sceau Royal and if Alan King’s number one Champion Hurdle hope can’t beat Ch’Tibello then he won’t be winning on the first Tuesday of the festival. He gains the vote by sufferance and hopefully he will silence the doubters with an authoritative performance.

Read Sam Turner's tips in the Daily Mail every day or at www.dailymail.co.uk/racing