Richard Mann has an each-way fancy for the Betdaq Chase at Kempton on Saturday - a race for which Sky Bet are offering five places instead of three.
Harry Fry seems set to saddle the favourite with the progressive Acting Lass topping Sky Bet's market, although he must concede weight to progressive sorts like Master Dee and Tintern Theatre.
Richard, however, is heading to a well-treated older rival while Ben Coley also moonlights on the racing desk with his idea of the best each-way bet.
Richard Mann - Theatre Guide
Theatre Guide has been a fine servant to the Colin Tizzard stable over the years and is a big price to continue his love affair with Kempton's Betdaq Handicap Chase at 3.35.
While the 11-year-old is clearly entering the twilight of his career, his fine third at Wincanton as recently as November confirms the candle still burns bright and he must be forgiven a below-par effort last time when the yard wasn't in the best of form.
With Tizzard's horses now back in rude health, Theatre Guide makes plenty of each-way appeal at 16/1 given he ran out a terrific winner of this race in 2016 and finished third off a 1lb higher mark 12 months ago.
The market is headed by Acting Lass, unbeaten in three starts over fences and a horse of considerable untapped potential.
He will need to jump better than he did at Ascot but trainer Harry Fry looks to be bringing him along beautifully and the step up to three miles should prove ideal.
Master Dee is proving a model of consistency and certainly deserves to land a decent pot having again missed out when finishing second in a competitive contest at Aintree last time.
Ben Coley - As De Mee
Absent colleague Matt Brocklebank will presumably be keen to see a decent run from Grand National fancy As De Mee on Saturday, and he looks an interesting bet in a wide-open renewal of the Betdaq Chase.
Paul Nicholls' horse has the National as his target and could be ring-rusty off a 77-day break here, but he's run well every time he's returned from his summer holiday and a winter tucked away in his box may prompt a similar upturn in fortune.
He is 5lb better off with the much shorter-priced Go Conquer for a two-length beating in October, while his subsequent demolition of Wakanda at Kelso reads better now thanks to that rival's recent Sky Bet Chase success.
Since then, he's only run twice - once behind Might Bite when sent off 4/1, and then when unseating over the National fences at Aintree. Freshened up, there's every hope he can return at his best and a mark of 149 is by no means beyond him.
The market suggests otherwise and perhaps places too much stock in the idea that all roads lead to Aintree. It's surely significant that connections waited for the weights, so to speak, and he is entitled to run well in a race which - with pace everywhere - could be run to suit.
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