Alex Hammond previews the big weekend action

Another National Hunt season comes to a conclusion with the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown on Saturday – what do you fancy in the big handicap chase?

Blaklion has plenty of weight, but this would be some compensation for being brought down at the first fence in the Grand National two weeks ago. He’s Sky Bet’s 6/1 favourite and comes right into it for Nigel Twiston-Davies. Whilst he has some very good form on heavy ground, he won the RSA Chase on good ground, so conditions at Sandown shouldn’t be a problem, in fact, his trainer has said in the past that he is better on a sounder surface. Conditions are a bit of a worry for me for another horse I like, Daklondike, as he really relishes testing ground. He had the option of the Scottish National last weekend, but he wasn’t declared. David Pipe’s horse is still only six and is a progressive staying chaser, so could be well handicapped.

Missed Approach is another horse that would benefit from a drop of rain, so it looks like I’ll be doing a rain dance ahead of the weekend. It could be wasted energy though because whilst there are showers forecast, there probably won’t be anything significant. Rock The Kasbah is slightly frustrating, but he ran well in this last year to finish a staying on sixth, although he doesn’t look obviously well handicapped being seven pounds higher than 12 months ago. His trainer Philip Hobbs has had a quiet season but has been amongst the winners recently and a big prize on the final day of the season would be a boost. This is a really trappy race, but I’m going to give ROCK THE KASBAH a chance – he’s 10/1 with Sky Bet.

How excited are you about the possibility of seeing Samcro back in action at Punchestown later in the week and just how good do you think he could be?

So excited to see Samcro, but where will he run? He has the option of two races on Friday, the Champion Novice Hurdle or the Punchestown Champion Hurdle, the latter would see him take on established hurdlers for the first time in his short career. There is over 100,000 euros difference in the first prize for the two races and the temptation for trainer Gordon Elliott must be to run in the Champion in his quest for a first trainers' championship. He’ll do right by the horse though and that could well be a match up with Melon in the grown up race.

Willie Mullins is trying to close a half a million euro deficit (at the time of writing) on Elliott in the title battle and Melon has a great chance of helping the current champion. He was only beaten a neck by Buveur D’Air in the Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham for a much improved effort. It would be a real match up between the two horses and I can’t wait to see what Samcro is capable of. There is a plethora of top class jump racing this week at Punchestown for our final fix of top quality jump racing this season.

After absorbing the racing from the Craven and Greenham meetings last week, what did the you make of Masar and James Garfield and where do you stand with the 2000 Guineas now less than two weeks away?

Time to switch our caps again and focus on the imminent Classics. The advantage of winning the Craven for Masar is we now know the course holds no fears for him. His trainer Charlie Appleby explained afterwards why he chose to run his colt in Dubai in March, which wouldn’t be the usual route for a potential 2000 Guineas contender; particularly when you consider he was 10th of 13 in a listed race on the dirt there.

He said he wanted to get the freshness out of him, which obviously worked. I’m not convinced he’s the Guineas winner, the Craven Stakes hasn’t provided us with the colts' Classic winner for some time and this son of New Approach was able to dictate things to suit last weekend. William Buick made all and used his horse’s race fitness to his advantage.

It was great to see James Garfield win the Greenham for George Scott. The race has in recent years been a more reliable trial for the Guineas, but I fear maybe not this time round. I quite fancied Expert Eye before the Newbury race but the vibes weren’t that strong on race day and he ran accordingly with a disappointing second place. James Garfield has understandably been cut in the market for the one mile classic on the first Saturday in May, but he’s still 20/1 with Sky Bet.

The two British trials have muddied the waters in my mind and not made the picture clearer and whist Aidan O’Brien may not have the assistance of Ryan Moore for the race as he looks set to be heading to the States for the Kentucky Derby instead, he could have the winner.

Gustav Klimt is Sky Bet’s 5/2 ante-post favourite after a winning reappearance in the 2000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown earlier this month. He won despite the heavy ground that day and it was good to see him back after a premature end to his juvenile career.

And as for the fillies, Aidan O’Brien again looks to have a particularly strong hand in the 1000 Guineas - even if Clemmie doesn’t make the race - but is there anything from the home guard that we can pin our hopes to?

I spoke about Clemmie last week and really hope she does make it. Her trainer Aidan O’Brien does have a very strong hand, with the first four in the market; Happily, Clemmie, September and I Can Fly. Charlie Appleby trains Wild Illusion, who at 8/1 with Sky Bet, is the shortest of the home trained entries. She ended last season with a win in the Prix Marcel Boussac. That’s run over a mile and was on soft ground, so you’d imagine she will excel when stepped up beyond the Guineas trip; she’s a lovely filly though.

Karl Burke will be hoping that Laurens has the pace to win a Guineas. She has classy form in the book, winning the Fillies’ Mile on her final juvenile start, but has real stamina on the dam’s side of the pedigree. So much so, that she is a half-sister to a British bumper winner and French hurdle winner. I’m happy to wait a little bit longer before nailing my colours to the mast, in case Clemmie makes a faster recovery than initially expected.

Defoe made an impressive return to action at Newbury on Saturday – do you think he could be a major player in all the top 1m4f races this summer?

I tipped/backed Defoe, so needless to say I was delighted with his performance at Newbury. He didn’t just win, he decimated the opposition in this Group Three, showing an impressive cruising speed and nifty turn of foot. It looked the perfect starting point for Roger Varian’s four-year-old. He didn’t run a bad race last season until the St Leger and for whatever reason he flopped there. He always looked like the type of horse that would get better with age and the vibes were very good coming into his seasonal reappearance.

Varian holds him in high regard and not just as a middle distance-stayer as his entry in the Tattersalls Gold Cup indicates. That Group One race at the Curragh is run over an extended mile and a quarter and that suggests he can be top class anywhere from 10 furlongs to a mile and three quarters, which gives his trainer many options. It remains to be seen how good he will be, particularly against the very best older mile -and-a-half horses that are around at the moment, but he’s sure to be placed to good effect by his shrewd handler.

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