Newbury on Friday continued....

1:50 
An exciting Novice Hurdle in which you would be surprised if the winner didnt come from one of the top four. VULCANITE probably has the most to prove out of the lot but does look a good horse and has made the transition from the flat to hurdles very well. He could just be out of his depth in a race like this though. ALL THE ACES is another from the flat who has taken well to hurdles, i would rather be on the Henderson horse rather than the first mentioned. MONTBAZON is one of the leading horses in the Supreme Novices this year but hasnt been too impressive so far, a win today would give you more confidence, last time at Fontwell he won at 1/10 and it would have been worrying if he couldnt win that race. I got the feeling that his jumping isnt clean enough to win a race of this standard and has everything to prove. COLOUR SQUADRON is the selection today, he threw away his chance last time by hanging badly left in the Tolworth Hurdle last time. The opposite way round today and that should play to his strengths. TANERKO EMERY could be a better horse than the rest who fell on his first start under rules, he would be my idea of an each way bet.

2:25
A very competitive 3 mile hurdle with some more than interesting horses. none more so than JUNIOR and BUENA VISTA who wont quite be wound up yet with bigger targets set for them. GRABTHEGLORY unseated his rider last time out but before that had been progressing very nicely and is shaping into a very nice horse, i would expect him to go close again today. GULLINBURSTI is an exciting novice but was beaten last time by an exciting horse from Paul Nicholls. Ridden by Emma Lavelle's new stable jockey Noel Fehily he may just find a couple too good today but should give a good account of himself. QROKTOU has been running very well without reward but was beaten at odds on last time in a novice hurdle. EXTREME IMPACT has a ten pound claimer on board so has a fly weight to carry, he does seem to run his best races at Chepstow but is wouldnt be a surprise to see him pop up at a big price today. Paul Nicholls looks to hold the key to this one with DEIREADH RE, he got up to win his last race on the last stride which would suggest he will stay every yard of this race today. Harry Derham takes off 7 pounds who won on him last time out.

2:55
This race is a reminder about just how strong the Novice chase division is this year. MOSSLEY found only Bobs Worth too good at Cheltenham last year, he hasnt really set the world alight with his jumping and looks like a better hurdler than a chaser. One with something to prove. WALKON will appreciate the longer distance this time out and may be the biggest improver in the field. PACHA DU POLDER is capable but doesnt look good enough to trouble horses of this standard. The same may apply to MICHEAL FLIPS who is pretty exposed but could be experienced enough to play a hand in the finish today. OUR MICK is an improving horse and won well at Kempton on boxing day, however he may meet a few horses that are more forward in their chasing career than him today. CEDRE BLEU made a nice chasing debut when he beat the 'reluctant' Bellvano who won at kelso in the week. He jumped like a stag at most fences here first time out and could be a very good horse. My selection is FOR NON STOP here who will stay this trip all day, last time suffered a bad mistake at the first in the home straight last time behind Cue Card. Before that he pushed Al Ferof all the way to the line and it would be no surprise to see him come home in front today for Noel Fehily and Nick Williams.

3:30
VILLAGE VIC and GEVREY CHAMBERTIN both won their first starts at Chepstow, the latter is a full brother to Grand Crus and could have a bit about him after winning by 30 lengths on debut (admittedly he didnt beat much) but it was the way he did it. The former won just as impressively by 14 lengths but both were on heavy ground. SHUTTHEFRONTDOOR won a very competitive race at Ascot last time and has to be respected. VRAI VERT won nicely at Hereford last time out and holds leading claims. In truth most of these have a chance, and that includes David O'Meara's CHANCERY who was running a big race at Cheltenham in a bumper last time when just fading up the hill but finished a respectable second. That is who we are siding with today.

Happy Punting as always