Sunday Racing Tips: Riggs and Rose are Tony Calvin's two bets at Aintree

• Big-field handicaps appeal on Sunday
• Tony Calvin likes Irish raider Riggs in the Aintree opener
• He also Fancies the O'Brien and Brennan combo to strike gold

Aintree and Limerick lead the way on ITV on Sunday, so I think it is fair to assume that I won't be taking up as much of your time as is usually the case with these columns.

Mind you, there are plenty of big-field handicaps to get stuck into, so let's see.

The going at Liverpool is currently a mixture of good and good to soft - they put 8-10mm of water on the course on Thursday - so I think good to soft is probably a fair working assumption, especially with around 4mm of rain due on Sunday according to some forecasts.

More patient ride possibly the key for Riggs

I'll take the Aintree action in chronological order, and first up is a 15-runner 3m149yd conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle at 13:30.

I really liked the look of Riggs but the UK handicapper has been harsh in adding on 6lb to his Irish mark of 120, so that immediately put a doubt in my mind.

I know he had strong form off higher marks when trained by Dan Skelton - notably when second off 127 in a very valuable handicap at Haydock last November and when a big eyecatcher over 2m4f at this meeting previously - but it isn't as if he has been pulling up any trees off marks of around 120 in Ireland of late.

However, I am going to back him to small stakes as they have been riding him aggressively of late, and I just wonder whether a more patient ride here is on the cards. If so, he has a winning chance on that Haydock run, a race in which he was ridden from off the pace, in common with his other runs for Skelton.

I fancied him before the start of Friday's racing but obviously the Cheltenham double of John McConnell is a further plus of sorts.

Back him at 15.014/1 or bigger on the exchange, . He is 12s with the Sportsbook, who are paying five places, if you want to back him there each-way.

Hitman a worthy fav but no bets in Veterans or Old Roan Chase

The 3m120yd veterans handicap chase at 14:05 has attracted a healthy 11 runners, but I couldn't see an obvious betting route into it.

I was surprised to see If The Cap Fits has plummeted to a mark of just 129 though, making his first start for David Pipe after a wind op, and he'd be my first port of call if having a bet.

After all, it was only two starts ago that he was finishing sixth in a Pertemps Hurdle final off an 8lb higher mark than this, but he has never really convinced me as a chaser, for all he has put in some fair efforts over fences in his time. The 8s with the Sportsbook, who are paying four places, is fair, though.

The Old Roan at 14:40 is obviously the highlight of the card and I fully agree with Hitman heading the market.

He didn't win in four starts last season but he didn't run a bad race, and I get the impression he is a fair bit better than his current mark of 159, and his Grade 1 seconds at Sandown and Aintree suggest.

He is still a 6yo and I think he could be exactly the slow-burner that Paul Nicholls excels with this term - the horse has had the usual Ditcheat wind treatment too, I see - and his record to date suggests 2m4f with a bit of ease could be his optimum trip, although I see the angle that has led some to stick him up as a lively outsider for the King George.

Anyway, enough of the waffle, is he a bet at 9/4? After all that, the answer is no, as this could be a tasty little renewal.

Back Rose to blossom for formidable force

The 2m4f handicap hurdle at 15:15 looks a really trappy affair, with the obvious added unknowns of levels of fitness about pretty much all of the runners.

I have a lot of time for Gentleman At Arms but he doesn't have an easy task off 143, having been raised 9lb for his Grade 1 second here over 3m in April, and Peking Rose made most appeal.

Fergal O'Brien and Paddy Brennan are a formidable force at present and Peking Rose has a history of going well when fresh and looks very fairly treated off 129.

Throw in the fact that this former smart bumper winner (he was a ½ length 2nd to Knappers Hill here in a Grade 2 last year) has had a wind op - maybe it was his breathing that made him look very awkward when we last saw him here in April - and his price is attractive, and I am happy to play at 7.06/1 or bigger.

The 11/2, four places, with the Sportsbook is obviously fine if you want to play each way.

Over at Limerick, the Munster National at 15:35 obviously takes centre stage but I am not going to pretend that I have a betting opinion on that race, or the other two contests televised by ITV. Stick to what you know best as much as possible.

So I'll park it there.

Good luck.