Sandown
13:55 Sandown - Racing Post Henry VIII Novices' Chase
Bristol De Mai for Nigel Twiston-Davies is the stand out bet of the day for me. On his chase debut at Uttoexeter in October he was beaten only by the super impressive Garde La Victoire, subsequently went onto win the Arkle trial at Cheltenham. Bristol De Mai then went onto beat good hurdler Karezak over fences at Warwick by an impressive 19 lengths.
He receives weight from everyone bar the Paul Nicholls second string today as a four year old and I fully expect him to be too strong for the rivals he faces.
15:00 Betfair Tingle Creek Chase
Just the seven runners go to post for this renewal due to the withdrawal of Simonsig yesterday, and I really like the chances of the Paul Nicholls trained Vibrato Valtat. He was an excellent winner of the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter last time out beating some good horses and I fancy him to follow that up today.
I think Josses Hill for Nicky Henderson may be the one to chase him home. He had some problems with jumping last year before overcoming them to run a really good race finishing third behind the superb Un De Sceaux in the Ankle at Cheltenham. He then finished fourth at Aintree over two and a half miles but I think this is his best distance and expect a decent performance from him today.
Premier League
In form team Liverpool travel to Newcastle on Sunday hoping to continue their impressive away record under Jurgen Klopp. They destroyed a strong Southampton side in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday by six goals to one, and looks strong favourites to beat a Newcastle team severely lacking in confidence.
Liverpool are starting to get their main players back from injury, although it looks like Philippe Coutinho may miss out again, and in Daniel Sturridge they have one of the best goal scorers in the league. If they manage to get an early goal tomorrow I think there is potential for the flood gates to open, as it did when Newcastle played Crystal Palace last weekend.
Newcastle will surely try and keep it tight early on given their past couple of games and then try and grow into it. They still appear to have the backing of their fans but I don't think it will take long for them to get on Steve McClaren's back if things start to go wrong. Therefore I can see Liverpool coming out all guns blazing and will be backing them to win this one comfortably.
Today's Selections
Sandown 13:55 - Bristol De Mai - 3 points @ 7/4 (Betfred, William Hill)
Sandown 15:00 - Vibrato Valtat - 1 point @ 2/1 (Most Firms)
Newcastle v Liverpool - Liverpool minus one - 2 points @ 13/8