Fairways Garden Centre Novices' Handicap Chase

Drew nicely clear to open chasing account at Ffos Las (3m, soft) in April and also ran well when clear second to progressive rival at Bangor (3m, good) last month; rain will aid his cause here; leading contender.

Dual hurdle winner last year (3m2f/3m); returned from layoff with satisfactory run last month but his two chasing attempts in 2023 were unconvincing and we haven't seen him over fences again since.

Returned to form with clearcut hurdle win at Stratford (2m6f, good) in March, his third run for Olly Murphy, but was not quite in the same nick when odds-on at Ffos Las (3m, good) last month and may not be favoured by the forecast rain on this chasing debut; sports first-time cheekpieces.

Low-mileage 9yo who has generally been very disappointing since returning from a long absence in November; battled on from poor position to take fourth at Ffos Las (3m, good to soft) nine days ago but still needs to respond positively to a change of headgear here.

Gamely made all to open account over C&D (good; first-time tongue-tie) six weeks ago, his third start over fences; might improve again but several fences were omitted in that rather unsatisfactory race, and he'll have something to prove if the ground is slower than good today.