Timeform UK SmartPlays: Thursday February 6

Huntingdon is first, specifically their useful-looking juvenile hurdle at 14:50. The race contains a good number of potentially above-average juveniles, with Baradari and Royal Skies deservedly viewed as the pick of them. Even so, those two are closer in the betting than they ought to be. Royal Skies' Flat form will earn him plenty of supporters, yet he looked to struggle on soft ground on his hurdling debut when a horse that had been far inferior to him on the Flat held him off. Baradari has no such concerns. His French form, useful in itself if not quite up to Royal Skies' level, was predominantly on testing ground and conditions were similarly testing when he won at Newbury over the Christmas period. He deserves to be a clear favourite, especially with the Venetia Williams yard continuing in such good form.

We stay at Huntingdon for our next SmartPlay, though this one is more speculative. The 15:25 has a few interesting sorts in attendance, but they all have one question or another to answer and on balance it becomes worth chancing that handicap debutant Prideofthecastle will improve. He won a couple of bumpers (the first on heavy ground in Ireland) and has got better by the run over hurdles, winning at Exeter and then finishing third to a promising stablemate there last time. This further step up in trip looks bound to suit according to both pedigree and visual impressions, so Prideofthecastle lifting his level of form once more doesn't take a great leap of imagination.

Finally we move quickly to Doncaster for their three-mile handicap hurdle at 15:35. It might seem just a little counter-intuitive, but some early-morning money is exactly what we wanted to see from One Conemara. This Nicky Henderson-trained gelding looked promising when winning a bumper and a maiden hurdle on his first two starts but rather went off the boil after that last season. There was more promise at this season's Open Meeting, where One Conemara looked set to be none too far away in a competitive handicap when unseating Andrew Tinkler three out. Kept fresh for this and now under Barry Geraghty for the first time, it's suspected that a mark of 123 isn't beyond One Conemara in this sort of company.

Timeform UK SmartPlays

Back Baradari @ 3.929/10 in the 14:50 Huntingdon
Back Prideofthecastle @ 5.39/2 in the 15:25 Huntingdon
Back One Conemara @ 3.929/10 in the 15:35 Doncaster