Kevin Blake's Saturday Racing Tips: Allen can take Betfair Hurdle prize back to Ireland

• Cracking racing at Newbury on Betfair Super Saturday

• Kevin Blake fancies Icare Allen to land Betfair Hurdle

• Stolen Silver has an excellent chance in Warwick opener

Betfair Super Saturday at Newbury is upon us. While there were some fears that the ground might be firmer than ideal, they don't seem to have come to fruition and it looks as though the card will be run on a sound and safe surface for all.

Betfair Hurdle prize can go to Ireland

As always, the featured Betfair Hurdle (15:35) has attracted a really competitive field complete with a couple of very interesting Irish-trained contenders.

The market is headed by the Emmet Mullins-trained Filey Bay and it is easy to see why. The seven-year-old showed some promise without winning for Declan Wall, but has taken off since joining Mullins.

He absolutely bolted up on his seasonal return in a handicap hurdle at Doncaster and followed up a week later in the fog at Wincanton in similarly easy style. He has gone up a total of 16lb for those wins, but that might well be insufficient to stop him making it a hat-trick in this much more competitive company.

However, considering the vast jump in class, his price looks skinny enough and I'm inclined to take him on with another Irish contender.

The one I like is the Willie Mullins-trained Icare Allen.

The five-year-old was competing against the best juvenile hurdlers around last season, winning a Grade 3 and finishing close up behind Vauban in both the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival and in the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

For all the promise of those runs, it was his seasonal reappearance in a handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse that makes him appealing for this contest.

Sent off as the 7/2 favourite in what was a highly-competitive handicap, the son of Cokoriko caught the eye travelling powerfully from quite a long way out, but he didn't get the clearest of runs in the straight and wasn't given a hard time in the closing stages to finish third.

That run marked him out as being well handicapped enough to go close in a race like this and it is fascinating that his connections have elected to bring him over for this race. Conditions should suit him well and a big run can be expected.

Silver can steal a well-deserved win

Over at Warwick the Virgin Bet Warwick Castle Handicap Chase (13:30) has attracted a small but interesting field. The Sam Thomas-trained Stolen Silver heads the weights by a margin of 11lb, but he may well be able to stamp his class on his opposition.

The eight-year-old has progressed notably well since joining his current trainer, winning twice and running a series of fine races in defeat in very competitive handicap chases.

His most recent second in a valuable handicap chase at Cheltenham in January represented a career-best effort, with him rallying gamely for pressure.

He seems to be thriving at present and this course and distance appeals as being likely to suit him. With this race representing a drop in class from what he has been competing in of late, he should be able to capitalise and gain a well-deserved win.