Tony McFadden provides an overview of the key things to note on Saturday.
Three points of interest
High Class Hero the pick of Mullins' bet365 Gold Cup team
Willie Mullins has already dominated the Grand National, in which he saddled the first three home, and the Scottish Grand National, in which he had a one-two, and he fires a ten-strong team at the final major handicap of the jumps season, the bet365 Gold Cup (16:10 Sandown), as he bids to overhaul Dan Skelton's narrow lead and retain his British trainers' championship.
The remarkable strength in depth that Mullins can call upon means that he is able to saddle half the field in the prestigious handicap, which has £175,000 of prize-money on offer, while the decision to declare Grand National third Grangeclare West has resulted in Skelton's sole representative in the race, Hoe Joly Smoke, being 12 lb out of the weights.
Mullins is responsible for the top three on Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings, with High Class Hero, the choice of stable jockey Paul Townend, heading those figures.
High Class Hero was beaten at a short price at Thurles last month but the drop in trip to just shy of two miles and five furlongs counted against him there and he was picked off by a rival with a superior turn of foot.
Timeform's reporter, far from being downbeat about High Class Hero's shock defeat, concluded he "remains with potential as a chaser, quite possible he'll bag a major staying handicap next season".
High Class Hero gets that opportunity to test himself in that major staying handicap earlier than expected and, still open to improvement after only three starts over fences, can prove up to the test.
Large P improvers to note in novice company
The Timeform 'small p' - which High Class Hero has attached to his rating - is a fairly common sighting on most racecards and is used to highlight horses that are deemed likely to improve. The 'Large P', which denotes the horse is considered capable of much better form, is awarded far less frequently but there are some potential big improvers to look out for in novice company on Saturday.
The opening novice at Haydock (13:30), over a trip just shy of a mile and a half, features some promising three-year-olds from top yards, including Antrim who was awarded the Large P following his debut effort for the Gosdens at Yarmouth a few weeks ago.
Antrim was sent off the 5/4 favourite but was too green to do himself justice, showing his inexperience from the outset by breaking very slowly from the stalls. That left him poorly placed in a race run at a slow gallop and he was never able to land a telling blow when the dash for home commenced, but he did stick to his task encouragingly to leave the impression that he'll prove a different proposition in time.
His pedigree certainly offers hope he'll do much better as he's by Dubawi and out of a close relation to the top-class dual Arc winner Enable.
In the mile fillies' novice (16:55) later on the card, Starlit Spice stands out having been described by Timeform's reporter as "an enormous eyecatcher first time up".
Starlit Spice is bred to come into her own over middle distances but she showed plenty of promise over seven furlongs at Leicester on her only start at two. She never threatened the decisive winner Formal, who had won stylishly on debut, but it was impressive how powerfully she finished off her race and readily pulled a couple of lengths clear of the third.
The Timeform report signed off with "she'll be suited by 1m+ and looks one to follow", so the step up in trip on her return looks a good move.
Also likely to benefit from a step up in trip is Naval Command. He contests the mile-and-a-quarter maiden (14:35) at Leicester having finished fourth over a mile at Kempton on his debut in October.
Naval Command, a 360,000 guineas purchase as a yearling, was unsurprisingly a short-price favourite starting out for Charlie Appleby given his price tag and powerful connections, but he was in trouble turning for home and could never get into a challenging position.
He made steady headway in the straight, however, ultimately shaping with plenty of encouragement, and looks likely to benefit from stiffer tests of stamina given he's a half-brother to St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov.
Classic clues on offer at Navan
There are also a couple of runners with the Timeform Large P in the Group 3 Salsabil Stakes (15:55) at Navan who add plenty of intrigue to a race that could have a bearing on classics later in the campaign.
The Salsabil, which was elevated from listed level ahead of last year's renewal, certainly had a big influence 12 months ago as it was won by Ezeliya who also went on to land the Oaks for Chris Hayes, Dermot Weld and the Aga Khan.
The Aga Khan sadly died in February but his silks will be carried in this year's Salsabil Stakes by Tarima who is from a family that Weld knows very well given she's a close relation to Breeders' Cup Turf winner Tarnawa and a half-sister to Irish Guineas winner Tahiyra.
Tarima has clearly inherited plenty of ability herself based on the impression she created on debut at Leopardstown last month. Sent off a strong 4/7 favourite, Tarima justified that support with a cosy victory despite being caught further back than ideal in a steadily-run race.
A steadily-run maiden didn't afford Tarima the opportunity to post a big rating on debut but she is an exciting prospect and looks well worth her place at this higher level.
The other filly in the line-up with the Large P is fellow Leopardstown maiden winner Catalina Delcarpio. She showed a sparkling turn of foot to get off the mark on her debut for Paddy Twomey and, like Tarima, was given Timeform's Sectional Timing Flag to show that she could have run to a higher level granted a more even pace.
Neither Tarima nor Catalina Delcarpio is entered in the Oaks at Epsom but both are in the Irish Oaks.
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