12.45pm Kempton

Noble Park

He did it well for me at Hereford last month and then went to Lingfield and won by a wide margin for James. He has gone up 17lb for those two successes but we know he is a fast-progressing horse, for whom 2m4f on decent ground are an ideal combination. This is clearly a much harder assignment for him, but he must have leading claims here.

1.55pm Kempton

Sir Gino

Everyone knows the story about why he is here and not chasing at the moment, and, now that he is, then they all have him to worry about. We clearly have to greatly respect the Champion Hurdler Golden Ace, who was back to form in that eventful Fighting Fifth, but I think it is fair to say the unbeaten Sir Gino is the class act in here. He was brilliant when beating Ballyburn in the Wayward Lad over fences at this meeting last season, which came after his own Grade 1 win over hurdles at Newcastle. He was obviously in the wars after that win here last season but he has clearly pleased us in recent weeks, or else he wouldn’t be here. This is a tough enough test on his return to action after a long break, but we are obviously hopeful.

2.30pm Kempton

Jango Baie

This is one hot King George with the Irish pair of Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File the form horses, and then you have to throw The Jukebox Man into the mix, and then last year’s 1-2 of Banbridge and Il Est Francais. And not forgetting in the in-form Djelo. This is a race to grace any stage, then. In a normal, standard renewal we’d be confident of a very bold show after what Jango Baie did to Gidleigh Park over 2m5f at Ascot on his reappearance and we would like to believe last year’s Arkle winner will improve for this step up to 3m, too. He certainly needs to progress but, let’s put it this way, we certainly believe he deserves to be here.

3.05pm Kempton

Ionian

He appeared to run below expectations for his previous trainer in a point in April but he has a nice pedigree and we think he is a lot better than he showed there, with this 2m trip a good starting point for him. Let’s see.

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