Horses To Take Note Of On Seasonal Debut This Weekend

Santini is said to be spot on for his return at Aintree in the Many Clouds Chase after Henderson pulled him out of the Betfair Chase a few weeks back and the rider believes he has come on massively for his Newbury Gallop.

The staying star for the yard always comes on a fair bit for his seasonal debut, but we think he will be bang on it this term having had a successful race gallop at Newbury.

Although winning on debut last term at Kempton, he was much better next time out after undergoing a wind op which saw him race on trials day in the Cotswolds Chase and he put in a mighty performance to beat Bristol De Mai over what was nearly the Gold Cup trip.

He then headed to the festival for the Cheltenham feature and although rallying in the final stages had to settle for a narrow second behind dual winner Al Boum Photo.

He will again be heading for the Gold Cup this term and the Many Clouds looks a great starting point for the gelding.

Top Notch heads into the Peterborugh Chase looking for his third win in the Grade Two contest and also looking to defend his title after a superb win in the race last term.

Henderson and his rider Daryl Jacob really do have a soft spot for this horse, talking well of him throughout his career and now at the age of nine will be looking to extend his superb record in the race.

The Simon Munir and Isaac Souede owned gelding has found his level over the years in these sort of events and if being as fresh as he has on debut over the last few years then he looks an attractive each way shout at 6/1.

Although Willie Mullins is responsible for five of the current 11 entries for the race, the most likely runner in the race for the master Irish trainer is Min.

The nine year old has gone on to take the Punchestown feature on his seasonal bow for the last two seasons and although set to face a tougher field can not be overlooked having been superb in past renewals.

The multiple Group One winner was seen three times last term, landing this event on seasonal debut before settling for second at Christmas at Leopardstown behind stablemate Chacun Pour Soi.

He then managed to land his first ever Cheltenham festival winner when winning the Grade One Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham festival.

Although slightly older now, he still represents top connections and having landed this race for that last two seasons is obviously one to watch again.