Haydock

1.15pm

Commanche Red

It sounds like they were never really happy with him at any stage at Ascot last time, so they have put the cheek pieces on to help him travel that much so kindly into his race. If they do the trick, then he has a very good chance on the form he showed for me when running away with a very strong Kempton handicap on soft ground on Boxing Day. The step back down from 3m is no negative, either. It’s a very good race but he is probably just about the one to beat on that Kempton win.

1.50pm

Endlessly

He probably ran a little bit better than it looks behind Tegerek at Cheltenham last month, and he was dropped 2lb for it. He won a couple of soft-ground novices’ hurdles last season and I think the step up in trip could suit here, as he was a winner over 1m6f on the Flat, after all.

2.25pm

Imperial Alcazar

He is a horse I have always loved, and I made no secret of that in my columns here last season. Now, this is clearly as hot a 3m handicap hurdle as you could wish to see, but my horse has a lot going for him. He always gives his best, he handles deep ground really well and I think he is fairly handicapped on a mark of 140 on his run with Protektorat at Cheltenham last season. Hopefully, there is plenty more to come from him too, and I think he will see out the trip well on his first start at 3m.

3.35pm

Perfect Candidate

The most obvious thing to say is that he is a 13yo now, going on fourteen, so of course he is going to find handicaps like this tough off his big weight. But, against that, he pretty much deserves his rating, as he is just 5lb higher than winning this race for me in such game style last season. Obviously, he needs to leave his Aintree run last month firmly behind him, but he always needs his first outing of the season and we know trip and ground are in his favour, and he goes well here.