17:50 Cartmel

Leg 1 Selections: Elham Valley, Yukon

ELHAM VALLEY landed a couple of decent handicaps last year and has finished second the last two times off this mark. He should again be thereabouts having improved in each of his outings this year. 

YUKON made a winning yard/hurdles debut at Sedgefield in October after a 14 month absence and has run well in defeat in two starts since. He returns to the handicapping scenario from a fair mark of 112 and has to enter calculations. 
 

18:20 Cartmel

Leg 2 Selections: Idealdes Villerets

IDEALDES VILLERETS has made a solid start to his hurdles career, placing four times before he nicely opened his account at Worcester on stable debut from the front. 

It was clear the breathing operation yield improvement and despite carrying a penalty in this race, he remains the one to beat with more to come. Good chance.  

18:50 Cartmel

Leg 3 Selections: Edinburgh Rock, Hey Bob

EDINBURGH ROCK was decent on the Flat for a Ralph Beckett and ran well back on the Flat at Wolverhampton earlier this month. He has only had the three starts over hurdles, so is open to further improvement and could go well. 

HEY BOB won three on the bounce last year, including this race twelve months ago. He has likely been primed for the race again, so he’s definitely worthy of inclusion in his follow-up bid.

19:20 Cartmel

Leg 4 Selections: Sword Of Fate, Ardera Cross

SWORD OF FATE has a good record this time of year and has won and finished second twice in his last three starts. This ten-year-old C&D winner could be set to run well again at this course which suits his style of racing. 

ARDERA CROSS could be hard to peg back though, who has gone well at this course before. He is a hard horse to beat when allowed a soft lead and that is a possibility at this venue. 

19:50 Cartmel

Leg 5 Selections: Grey Skies, Zumbi

GREY SKIES has won his last two chase starts and beat subsequent winner Universal Folly very comfortably back in April. That form is strong, and he should make a bold effort to complete the three-time over fences. 

ZUMBI made a respectable debut over fences when fourth over C&D on Saturday and given James Moffatt and Charlotte Jones good record at this course, this six-year-old has a decent chance. 

20:20 Cartmel

Leg 6 Selections: Step Back, Time Leader

STEP BACK is a former Bet365 Gold Cup winner, who bounced back to form to finish runner-up at Carlisle two starts ago. He isn’t the force of old given his advancing years but is the class act in the field and could be hard to peg back if he gets an uncontested lead. 

TIME LEADER gained his third hunter chase of the year in good style at Kelso three weeks ago and is likely to start favourite, so is a solid alternative.