Tony Calvin Tips: Back Dirtyoldtown ante-post at 14/1 at Musselburgh

• Tony is targeting the Silver Arrow Handicap at 14.25

• Good or Soft ground shouldn't cause any issues

• Dirtyoldtown is a 14/1 ante-post pick at Musselburgh

With big fields and tight enough margins I am going to leave Haydock alone for ante-post purposes - if the numbers hold up there I reckon we will get similar prices and enhanced place terms come Thursday (the maximum field sizes for the ITV races are 17, 20 and 17) - so I thought I would take another look at Saturday's Musselburgh card.

I put up Prince Alex at 16/1 for the Queen's Cup on Monday and, to be perfectly honest, only one other horse really caught my eye at the meeting - and he comes with an obvious risk.

Head back to Musselburgh once more

The horse in question is Dirtyoldtown, and he was last seen being humped 47 lengths in desperate ground at Doncaster on Saturday, carrying my cash, so there is a clear doubt as to whether he will turn out again so soon afterwards.

Not an ideal ante-post punting vehicle then, you may say.

And you may well be right.

However, the fact that his trainer entered him for this race on Monday is hopefully a sign that he didn't come home on Saturday totally legless and, he was looked after by Sam James at Doncaster once it was clear that the draw in trap two scuppered any chance he had in the Spring Mile (he went off at 17/2 in that 22-runner race).

Granted, he was beating a retreat from 3f out there but James just nursed him home in the last quarter of a mile, so maybe the run didn't take too much out of him.

And he raced a touch too keenly in his first-time blinkers there too, so I wonder whether they will ditch the headgear on Saturday, too.

If he does turn out again, then he surely has a big chance.

No issues with good or soft ground

The ground will be no problem for him if it rides good or soft, or somewhere in between, and he must have a fair constitution as he won in soft ground at Chepstow as a 2yo just 13 days after his debut.

And if he reproduces either of his runner-up efforts here or over 7f at Newmarket last season then he is handicapped to win this.

At this meeting last year, he finished ½ length second to Spirit Catcher in the opening mile handicap - he was collared in the final furlong after going from the front - and behind him were Desert Angel and Atrium, who won their next starts (in handicaps) by four and three lengths respectively.

If he runs - and, for what it is worth, 3lb Oliver Stammers is already jocked up on him - and gets a favourable low draw that allows him to attack from the front over what is probably his optimum trip, then he could well make all.

Given the doubts about him rocking up, he can only be a small-stakes, win-only recommendation at 14/1. And I also acknowledge that he is available at 20/1 and 16/1 elsewhere. At the moment, anyway.

I fully appreciate if you want to see if he remains in the race on Thursday before betting but 14s is more than acceptable to me. At the same price, maybe Another Batt is the other alternative to consider in the race.

Good luck. Back on Thursday morning with my look at the Good Friday action.

Weighed-In - Watch Here!