BACCHANAL takes another positive step towards potential Cheltenham glory at Sandown today in the feature event on the card, the Future Stars Chase.

Currently quoted at 16-1 with the Tote for the 2002 Gold Cup, Bacchanal has scared away all but two of his rivals for the £20,000 contest, leaving yet another thoroughly pitiful turnout for a chase of this stature.

At least the north is represented by the up-and-coming seven-year-old Granit d'Estruval. To his eternal credit Ferdy Murphy has not bottled out of taking on Bacchanal, even though the latter was rated the joint top novice chaser last term.

It would be a terrific blow for the underdogs if the fast-improving Granit d'Estruval could lower Bacchanal's colours, but Nicky Henderson's Festival prospect oozes so much class he still gets the vote.

Fresh from big-race success in the Hennessy Gold Cup at the weekend with What's Up Boys, trainer Philip Hobbs goes for more big bucks this time via One Knight (2.05) in the £20,000 Winter Novices' Hurdle.

Robert Widger's mount has won four of his last five starts, most notably when thrashing Polar Red in the valuable Grade 2 Persian War Hurdle at Chepstow in November.

Exeter arguably stage the most exciting race of the day, the four -mile Axminster's Carpets Marathon Chase.

The 1999 winner, Kinehalla, put himself right back into the picture by landing a 25-1 surprise victory at Huntingdon recently. But he's not always the most consistent of characters and preference is for Lancastrian Jet (2.25).

Henry Daly's dour out-and-out stayer ran a cracker first time up this season when chasing home The Quads at Carlisle. Lancastrian Jet's overall level of fitness will have benefited enormously from that outing, hopefully bringing him to concert pitch for today's arduous challenge.

In the earlier Harry Dutfield Memorial Chase, St Pirran (1.55) bids to redeem his slightly tarnished reputation, having failed to justify odds-on favouritism at Cheltenham.

Paul Nicholls thinks the world of his lightly-raced six-year-old, who clumsily got rid of jockey Timmy Murphy with a blunder of titanic proportions at Prestbury Park.

Luckily St Pirran emerged unscathed from the nasty looking incident and he's sure to have been intensively schooled over fences since the mishap.

In the closing Conditional Handicap Hurdle the ex-Alan Swinbank-trained Ghutah (3.30) appears to have been let in on a pretty lenient mark and the booking of star claimer David Dennis is the icing on the cake.

Finally to Southwell, where the near top-flight chaser Tremallt (2.50) reverts to the smaller obstacles in the Night At The Opera Novices' Hurdle.

Tom George's charge last ran in the Badger Beer Chase at Wincanton and was not disgraced either by finishing a fairly close-up sixth.