Paul Nicholls: Pic D'orhy has lots in his favour as his bids to defend Grade 2

• Five at Kempton and two at Warwick for Paul

• Pic D'orhy bidding to defend Silviniaco Conti Chase

• Lanzarote Hurdle has been Sonigino's target

Kempton

12:20 - Kalif Du Berlais

An interesting recruit from France he won stylishly on his racecourse debut at Compiegne early in October and kept on strongly in the closing stages. The hard thing is that he gets an 8lbs penalty for that success. He is a big, strong chasing horse for the future and this race seems a good starting point for him in this country. He settled in quickly after joining us two months ago and we do like him.

14:07 - Pic D'orhy

He won this by sixteen lengths a year ago and has a solid chance of completing the double. I don't think he was at his best when he was successful in his only race this season at Ascot where he found the ground quicker than ideal. But he still won decisively and we fancied our chances against Shiskin before he refused to start. Pic D'Orhy is in good shape, working nicely and I've had this race in mind for him for a while.

14:42 - Sonigino

The Lanzarote has been the plan for Sonigino from the moment he bolted in at Aintree early last month. He has progressed nicely this season and was well suited by stepping back up in trip at Aintree where he looked like the winner a long way from home. The key to his improvement is that he is settling better in his races with experience. He was raised 6lbs after Aintree and will not find things easy under top weight of twelve stone.

Paul Nicholls Superboost

The Betfair Sportsbook have boosted the price of Paul's Sonigino to finishing in the top six in the Lanzarote Hurdle at 14:42 from 5/61.84 to 6/42.50.

14:42 - Irish Hill

I was pleased to see him show a lot more last time when he finished second at Newbury in first time blinkers after two below par runs. He will also enjoy the better ground at Kempton though it is only two weeks since he had quite a hard race at Newbury.

15:15 - Cap Du Mathan

He was largely consistent in his first season over fences but he struggled at Ascot last time when they went too quick for him. He does have to leave that poor run behind him but it's encouraging that he ran well when second at this course last March.

Warwick

15:00 - Broken Halo

He bounced back to form with victories in two races for military riders at Sandown in the spring and was running another sound race at the same track six weeks ago when he fell three from home. I was surprised to see him going so well until then because I didn't think he was ready. Broken Halo needed a bit of time to recover from quite a heavy fall that day but he is fine now and has done plenty of schooling.

16:05 - Rickety Bridge

He's declared at Wincanton on Friday but if that meeting is abandoned then he will run at Warwick. He is a promising type who stays well and will be a tidy novice over hurdles next season.

Best Chance: Pic D'orhy - 14:07 Kempton

"He has plenty in his favour as he bids for a repeat success in this Grade 2 Chase."

Now read Tony Calvin's Saturday tips here.