Saturday 25th February
1.57 Chepstow - No No Tonic 11/1 (Hills,Lads,Coral)
Interesting looking handicap hurdle that looks wide open with a few of these more than capable of going close but im gonna go with the in form NO NO TONIC , who i think can go well at a decent price. Has only been out of the frame once since coming back from a lay off back in September '22 - 3,4,1,9,1,2 .. She sluiced up on her penultimate run beating the decent John Betjeman by 8 1/2 lengths at Wincanton. She followed that up last time out with a sound second over 2 miles here , which took her tally here to two runs - two places (one of those over CD). Shes never won over this trip but has run well over it so i dont think that will be a problemand im hoping that todays the day she can get her head in front over this trip. Trainer and jockey go for just this one today and i think the outing could well pay dividends.
3.07 Chepstow - Top Of The Bill 10/1 (Lads,Coral)
Another handicap hurdle and its pretty much similiar to the one above in that it looks , to me , to be wide open with plenty of possibles , but theres one that catches my eye at what i think is a decent price and thats TOP OF THE BILL. As with my other selection hes another whose done well since returning to action from a lay off , has had four runs and won two of those , including last time out when he beat Sporting Ace by 2 lengths at Exeter. He won over CD three races back , beating Paricolor , so will know his way round here. J Nailor rides him today on his sole start of the meeting and hes ridden the horse the last seven times , resulting in figures of - 4,4,4,2,1,4,1 so obviously seems to get on well with the horse and i can see no reason why the pair shouldnt go well again today. Has been riding well of late with a 33% strike rate over the past three weeks , and is 1/1 here this season and when riding for NTD the pair have struck up a 50% strike rate in the past 21 days. Nigel Twiston Davies' runners always merit respect , and the fact that he sends only two runners to the meetin that are both in this race (which he won last year with Ballyandy) stands out for me and whilst i wouldnt discount his other runner , The Kniphand , i think this one could be the best of the pair. At the price im willing to take a chance to find out.