See the Light and trust in the Noble Prince to deliver

Half way there now! On to Thursday.

Jewson Chase:
Wishfull Thinking would be an interesting runner if he lined up here but given he is twice the price on Betfair as with the bookies I'm guessing he will now actually line up in the RSA...which I hadn't considered earlier - might actually be the solution to that problem. Will have to think a bit more on that one!

Captain Chris has spent most of the season getting beat by the Arkle favourites. Did well to win comfortably the last day given he had a tough race only 2 weeks previously vs Medermit. Hard to tell if his 3rd race in a little over a month might be too big an ask.

Mr Gardner has 7L's to find with Capt. Chris and although he should improve he is too inexperienced for me with only 2 chase starts to date.

Robinson Collonges has a lot of talent but there are big question marks over his jumping. Won 2 of his 4 starts easily and would have been pretty close to beating Wishfull Thinking when falling at Wincanton. Last day here he threw away any chance with a mistake at the 3rd last (one of the downhill fences which are harder to jump). I think if he can be put under pressure he will crack again - might be one of the few horses where the PP faller insurance bet could be good value - although he didn't fall the last day just stumbled.

Loosen my Load was well beaten by Ghizao here in November when he just lost out to Capt. Chris for second in the final yards. Was over 5Ls back from Noble Prince the next day out in Leopardstown.

Which brings me on nicely to my selection, the horse I wanted to back for the Arkle, but he came here instead - NOBLE PRINCE. ON a pure line of form through Loosen My Load he is 5L's better than the likely favourite. Both him and the favourite will improve for the step up in trip and I am confident that our selection will enjoy both the better ground and the longer trip. If Realt Dubh does deliver for us on the first day though, watch this price tumble.

Ryanair Chase:
This is one of those situations where when I scanned the entries the answer I thought I would get was completely different to the answer I did get!

I fully expected to be tipping up Kalahari King for this. My initial reaction to his run behind Master Minded was that to get within 1 3/4Ls of Mad Max having been hampered by a falling horse was good going, however I think this would be unfair to Mad Max as to give him his due he actually made an attempt to win this race and as a result suffered at the end and nearly got caught by an inferior horse (Kalahari King). He has an impressive festival record - 2nd in an Arkle and 3rd in a Champion Chase but I just can't get away from the feeling the more I look at him that he is on the downgrade and has been for a full year. He raced as a 2yo on the flat and maybe this French bred just has too many miles on the clock at this stage.

Poquelin is a deserved favourite with a fantastic course record including a Gold Cup win here in December. Has been given a break since and whoever beats him is going to win. I'll hold off backing him in the hopes that he drifts on the day and then may well get involved in some way.

I never really expect much from Alberta's Run over the winter, he is a real spring horse. But even for him this winter has been bad. Given the doubts his trainer has been voicing in recent weeks I'll pass over him this time (if he proves us wrong we can alway recoup our losses at Aintree!)

Gauvianwon at the track at the start of the season when beating the horse that hates winning Forpadydplasterer. SInce then though he has been out classed in a few G1's and is prob a bit out of his depth here again.

If there is to be a shock here it could be Rubi Light - a 6yo with plenty of scope for improvement having comfortably won the Red Mills Chase the last day out. Worth a small ew saver but thinking back I think POQUELIN is the one everyone has to beat and should be backed to win on the day.

World Hurdle:
This looks like a match between the big 2. I think Big Buck's will prob just shade it but nobody really knows yet just how good Grand Crus is so maybe best not to get too heavily involved here.

Much more interesting from a betting point of view is the race for 3rd. Mourad hasn't really beaten much in Ireland this winter although she did get within 5 1/2Ls of Hurricane Fly first time out over 2 1/2M. The only other realistic contender is Fiveforthree who won a Neptune here a few years back and has a G1 3m hurdle to his name. He looked good the last day but that was his first run for a year and a half. Willie claims Mourad is the better option but it is hard to be sure. If the real Fiveforthree turns up everyone could be in for a real race. I think WH are well out of line in their betting w/o 2 market though and both can be backed profitably here.

1.5pts e/w Noble Prince 6/1 (bet365 Boyles, WH)
2pts Poquelin (best morning price)
0.25pts e/w Rubi Light 25/1 (VC, SJ, WH, 888)
1.25pts e/w Fiveforthree (w/o big 2) 4/1 (WH)
.75pts e/w Mourad (w/o big 2) 3/1 (WH)
1pt e/w Fiveforthree 12/1 (PP, Boyles, SJ)