GRAND NATIONAL hopeful Be My Manager (3.15) continues his Aintree preparation with a tune-up over hurdles at Ayr this afternoon.

Martin Todhunter's smart eight-year-old started the season brightly enough with successive chasing victories at Perth and Wetherby, but near disaster was to follow when he was pulled up at Kempton last month after blundering at the eighth fence and going lame.

The fact that Todhunter is prepared to bring the selection back to the track so soon suggests no long-term damage has been done at Kempton.

From a purely handicapping aspect the decision to switch back to the smaller obstacles for the James Barclay Memorial Handicap Hurdle makes perfect sense since Be My Manager's chase rating currently stands at 134, compared to his hurdles mark of 110.

The difference, a whopping 24lb, means Graham Lee's mount could theoretically perform well below par and still win with something in hand.

That's not a bad premise for having a bet in a race, which on paper at least, doesn't seem particularly competitive.

Tony Dobbin leads the jockeys' standings at the course and he looks to be in for another bumper pay day with several fancied rides, including Armagueden (2.10) and Joint Authority (3.50), both of whom are trained by Lenny Lungo.

Although Armagueden let his supporters down when failing to justify favouritism at Catterick 100 days ago, there may have been a valid excuse for the defeat because his stamina appeared to give out over the 19-furlong trip.

Lungo has responded by dropping his charge in distance to two miles, a change of tactics that I suspect will bring about the desired result.

Joint Authority rates one of the most consistent jumpers north of the border, significantly improving his prospects of picking up the Arthur Challenge Cup.

The ever-drying ground should not be a problem to Dobbin's partner, who has not finished out of the first two in any of his last five racecourse excursions.

In the big race at Sandown, the Grand Military Gold Cup, course specialist Kings Mistral (3.05) looks the proverbial "good thing".

It might prove best to leave the opener to Silk Trader (2.00), another to have shown a liking for the track in the not too distant past