Timeform UK SmartPlays: Friday April 12

The 15:15 at Chepstow is our first port of call, a novice handicap chase over just shy of two and a half miles. Selection Prolinx wouldn't be a cast-iron certainty, but there's no doubt in our minds that he's the likeliest winner and should be shorter than current odds. Although without a win since his bumper days, Prolinx has had just seven runs over jumps in total, with his four outings over fences a story of gradual improvement. There's a case for saying that Prolinx could have won either of his last two starts, left with a bit too much to do when third at Newbury and then suffering for Sam Thomas' over-confidence when runner-up at Southwell last time. It is possible that Prolinx needs to be handled with kid gloves, but that's more than factored into the prices as they stand and he should be closer to 3.39/4 for this.

We flit to Wetherby just 10 minutes later for our second selection, with also runs in a handicap chase, this one restricted to mares. As you can imagine, it's not the most competitive of heats, which is why it's such a surprise to find handicap debutante Queen of Mantua as big as 4.47/2 at the time of writing. A winning hurdler, Queen of Mantua's two runs over fences so far have been about gaining experience above all, novice mistakes creeping in on her most recent run at Warwick, for which she admittedly went off well backed. If felt capable of winning an everyday novice, Queen of Mantua is presumably deemed good enough to win an ordinary handicap from a BHA mark of 101, so expect to see her go off shorter than current odds.

The return journey to Chepstow can be taken at a relative amble, as today's final selection doesn't run until 17:30. The race is yet another handicap chase, this one over three miles, and with Oddjob now a non-runner the path appears to be clear for Tara Tavey. Representing the Kevin Bishop yard, which has been among the winners of late, Tara Tavey sprang something of a surprise when landing a handicap hurdle over just short of three miles at Exeter last week. There seems no fluke about that effort, though, and she switches back to chasing from the same mark. If she's as effective over the larger obstacles- and her point win last winter suggest she might well be- Tara Tavey would have been a big threat to Oddjob and will probably have too much for those left.

Timeform UK SmartPlays

Back Prolinx @ 5.85/1 in the 15:15 Chepstow
Back Queen of Mantua @ 4.47/2 in the 15:25 Wetherby
Back Tara Tavey @ 4.57/2 in the 17:30 Chepstow