2.20pm Cheltenham

City Chief

He excelled when winning his Grade 2 at Wetherby and it is fair to say we expected a little bit more from him when he was third at Ayr on his final start, but the ground was too quick for him there. I think a mark of 142 is fair on that Wetherby run, and I can see this stamina test really suiting him.

2.55pm Cheltenham

Jonbon

Only four runners, but this is some race if they all get to post and all run to their best. This is a very competitive and high-class renewal then, and this is only Jonbon’s second run in open company. But the first saw him notch a great win in the Celebration Chase at Sandown in April. He has been working and schooling well in his preparation for this.

3.30pm Cheltenham

Iberico Lord

This is the first time I will have ridden him in a race but he clearly came good at the back-end, winning at Stratford and then running a very good race when just failing to reel in his stablemate Under Control – thankfully, as I was on the winner! – at Sandown. He went up 6lb for that narrow defeat but hopefully he can still be competitive off this mark.