Paul Nicholls: Henri The Second has a big chance at Sandown on Saturday

• Paul Nicholls previews his runners at Musselburgh and Sandown

• Henri The Second will love conditions and has big chance

• Paul revisits Irish Gold Cup win and picks one for Saturday's big race

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Neptune Collonges' Irish Gold Cup win was a special day

Neptune Collonges' win in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival in 2009 was a special day because it was exactly 21 years since I had won the same race on Playschool. It was amazing and I have fond memories of the race. It is great to go over to the Dublin Racing Festival with horses that are good enough. 

Neptune had run at Leopardstown over Christmas and fell when he looked like winning, so we went back for the Irish Gold Cup, which he won. Everyone says the English don't go to the Dublin Racing Festival enough, but you need to have the right horses, and I like to support British racing. We have some great meetings here in the next few weeks and we need to support them.  

The Dublin Racing Festival is a great initiative in Ireland, it suits the Irish trainers, and we've got lots of meetings coming up that suit us. But if you have the right horse, as I did with Neptune Collonges in 2009, then you should go and I am sure we will be there again in the future.

Mark Milligan has three bets for Saturday at the Dublin Racing Festival - click here to read

Spindleberry could upset Galopin Des Champs in Irish Gold Cup 

Galopin Des Champs' record is great, but he has got to a crossroads where some of the younger legs might be catching him up a little bit. Saturday's Irish Gold Cup will probably tell us whether he is going to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup again. There are some good young horses in the field, but Galopin Des Champs is probably still the one to beat.    

There are a few smart horses in the field for this year's Irish Gold Cup that I wouldn't mind training, but I've got a feeling Spindleberry might run really well, she is unexposed and going the right way. Last year's Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Inothewayurthinkin, has been dire but would have a chance if he came back to form. I Am Maximus is another good horse in the field. 

It is a really good race to watch, I don't have a strong opinion, but I do wonder if Spindleberry is an improving horse.

Dan Skelton is 'home and hosed' in the 2026 Trainers' Championship

It is almost impossible for Willie Mullins to win a third Trainers' Championship in a row - a monumental task - so I think Dan Skelton will win. He might beat my record of £3.6m prize money at some stage this season, he could be cracking on for £4m if he goes right in the spring. 'If' is a big word in racing but Willie would have to win everything and the chances of his being first, second and third in the National again are slim. 

Dan is home and hosed, although you can never rest on your laurels where Willie is concerned. That said, Willie has a battle on his hands in Ireland too because Gordon is going to make Willie have to go this year.  

Dan was at Ditcheat for nine years and, after three or four years of working with him, I had no doubt that he would be a future champion trainer. I call him "mini-me" because he is like I was at his age, and I expect him to win the title this year. 

Listen to this week's Racing...Only Bettor

Sandown runners

15:10 Sandown - Henri The Second

He nearly wants it to be unraceable - that would suit him - because he loves heavy ground. I'm glad that they have decided to have the hurdle races on because I think we lost this race two years ago when I really fancied him. He went chasing earlier in the season, but it was a disaster for him at Doncaster, and he will not go chasing again. He just cannot jump fences. 

His run at Sandown four weeks ago was a two-and-a-half-mile prep race for this to build his confidence, after his bad experience over fences, and I was thrilled with his performance, he ran really well.  

This has been his target for the last month. He has got no leeway with the handicapper, but the ground makes such a difference for him, he loves Sandown, has won there several times, and I think he has a big chance. He is my best chance of the weekend.

Musselburgh runners

13:10 Musselburgh - Falls of Acharn

He was a good winner over this course and distance on New Year's Day and now steps into listed company. He will improve a lot for that run, we have sharpened his jumping up, he has done a lot of schooling, he's definitely physically improved since that day. We were surprised he won, as he was only a miler on the flat, but he stayed on quite strongly. 

We were always going to go back to Musselburgh for this race. It has cut up a little bit, but it is still a tough enough race, and we think he will run well.

13:43 Musselburgh - Afadil

He ran well in this last year off just one pound higher. I think he is well-handicapped, if he is on a going day, he is a bit of a monkey, as his record will show he is not easy to win with, and two runs ago he stood at the start at Sandown and gave himself too much to do. The last day, he ran ok - Olive [Nicholls] said she wished she had made more use of him - so now Freddie Keighley has got a handy seven off, so hopefully they will go a good gallop and he will run well. 

14:20 Musselburgh - Insurrection

He has an obvious chance. He is five pound higher than when he won last year, I think, so the owners are keen to claim off him, which is why Freddie is going up there. With seven off, if he performs like he did in the last run - and he is bound to improve from that - he should have a big chance.

15:00 Musselburgh - Absolutely Doyen

He will have an entry in the Pertemps Final, but he is creeping up the weights. We used his seven-pound claim to big advantage over his last few runs - he had no weight at all at Wincanton, though he bolted in - and he has a penalty for this, and we are not claiming because you can't claim in this race. He still has a bit to prove but he is an improving young horse, he stays three, the track will suit him, so he must be the one to beat.

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