The opener (13:00) is new to this card, having switched places with the intermediate handicap named in honour of David Johnson on Friday. This 0-125 is still extremely competitive even if it is a slightly lower standard of race. It's to be hoped that it doesn't work that way, and that Big Casino proves to be every bit as progressive as he looked when dotting up at Carlisle last month. That was his first start in handicaps, not to mention his first for Nigel Twiston-Davies, whose string haven't yet registered success at this meeting but remain in very good order overall. A strong traveller who has shown an inclination to pull, Big Casino is the type to thrive in a race like this, for all his relative inexperience, and he has the assistance of promising claimer Ryan Hatch to boot.
The 'Arkle Trial' is a hopeful name for any race run in November, but today's 14:10 isn't too far off justifying the label. It certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see Dodging Bullets, Raya Star or Ted Veale in the real thing come March. Today at least, the second-named is preferred. He was a smart and steadily-progressive hurdler until his jumping came a cropper a couple of times towards the end of last season, though in the context of the races (the Kingwell and Aintree Hurdle) those errors are excusable. Raya Star jumped more than well enough at Uttoxeter on his chasing bow and, although this will be more of a test on just about every scale you could name, he should be up to coping.
Finally, we set our sights on the small matter of the 18-runner Greatwood. It says plenty that Court Minstrel, a favourite of many in Timeform House, can't make the 1-2-3 on our free site, but such competitiveness only makes the returns more lucrative if you can pick the right one. Today's hope is Ifandwhybutnot, who won the novice equivalent of this race 12 months ago. His record since hasn't been startlingly good on form figures, though he did improve on a couple of occasions and would have been within hailing distance of Court Minstrel in the Scottish Champion Hurdle but for falling at the last. Now fit from an encouraging spin at Aintree and 9 lb better off with that rival at the weights, Ifandwhybutnot has as strong a claim as any in this race if he's able to continue his upward trajectory.
Timeform UK SmartPlays
All at Cheltenham
Back Big Casino in the 13:00
Back Raya Star in the 14:10
Back Ifandwhybutnot in the 15:15
