FERDY MURPHY'S powerful stable looks well worth following over the coming weeks as his horses start to strike top form.

Under such circumstances there's no time to waste in executing the master plan and this afternoon the genial Irish handler has targeted Catterick's Wakefield Beginners' Chase for his promising young six-year-old, Garde Bien (1.20), a superbly-bred son of Afzal out of a Deep Run mare.

Such a mouthwatering pedigree will have National Hunt devotees positively slavering at the lips, especially as Garde Bien ran so well in defeat when narrowly touched off at Doncaster last time out.

The two-mile-three-furlong trip is identical to the one over which the selection performed most encouragingly on the Town Moor, adding further fuel to the argument that now is the moment to side with Murphy's up-and-coming chaser.

Sue Smith's team has been in excellent heart all season therefore top-weight may not be sufficient to prevent her representative, Bushido (2.50), claiming the Leeds Handicap Hurdle.

Bushido is a bonny little character with a spring in his stride and twinkle in his eye as he struts around the parade ring. Neither is his enthusiasm reserved only for the preliminaries since he normally races with heaps of zest once the starter calls the runners and riders into line.

It is also worth bearing in mind that on a track where the six-year-old twice finished second last term, Smith's game gelding might prove hard to peg back once his conditional jockey lets go of Bushido's head during the final half-mile of the £4,700 contest.

The most exciting finish of the afternoon may well be fought out in the climax of the Ikley Handicap Chase, an event in which several of the 12 runners are extremely closely matched.

While having never having been an advocate of backing rogues, however loveable they might be, in this case I'll make an exception for Impertio (3.20).

Believe me this horse is not an honest broker because many times he appears on the scene swinging off the bridle, only to disappoint once asked for maximum effort. But in Impertio's defence, two career wins plus numerous second and third placings from a total of 44 starts, tells us he actually possesses stacks of ability.

In this sort of situation first time out after a long absence is often the time to get on, and with Impertio having not seen action for 266 days, he might conceivably have forgotten his frustrating habit of downing tools at the business end of affairs.

l Nicky Henderson knows a good horse when he sees one and the Lambourn trainer could scarcely contain his excitement after seeing Trabolgan continue his education with an easy success at Newbury yesterday, writes TATTENHAM

Having finished second in last year's Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, the six-year-old had already proved himself to be a horse of considerable talent with a comfortable success over hurdles at Ascot last month.

Trabolgan followed up in good style yesterday and looks sure to take high rank among the season's novices. With the exception of a mistimed leap at the fifth flight, he was fluent throughout and stayed on strongly under Mick Fitzgerald in the testing conditions to defeat bumper winner Noplanofaction.