OLLIE MAGERN (2.20) will likely be installed as favourite for next year's Cheltenham Gold Cup if, as expected, he wins Haydock's £150,000 Betfair Chase.

The column proved right on the money when Ollie Magern was headlined to rout his rivals in the Charlie Hall Chase three weeks ago and at around 4-1 the price is perfect to re-invest the cash on Carl Llewellyn's mount.

The reason the bookies are serving up a potentially premature Christmas gift revolves around the presence of Kicking King, reigning Gold Cup holder and odds-on market leader for this afternoon's spine-tingling clash.

Many pundits reckoned Tom Taafe's Irish raider was the real deal, but that theory was smashed to smithereens when Kicking King met with a shock defeat at the hands of War Of Attrition in a Punchestown October thriller.

Admittedly the Irish champion was given a less-than-inspired ride from Barry Geraghty that day, but Ollie Magern is a true pretender to the throne with his gazelle-like jumping power and explosive speed.

Vibes emerging from the Nigel Twiston-Davies camp, responsible for the selection, could hardly be more encouraging for the lead-up to this afternoon's big test.

"Kicking King better look out, Ollie Magern has come on for his Wetherby run and he has been working very well of late," reported Twiston-Davies, who has been the subject of a remarkable renaissance having seriously threatened to pack up not so long ago.

Keith Reveley's useful dual-purpose campaigner Hernando's Boy (12.45) switches back to jumps following a runaway victory on the level at Catterick's final Flat meeting of the year.

Reveley has been patient with Hernando's Boy, a policy which seems as if it's going to be repaid in spades because this talented gelding does appear as if he's now maturing at a rate of knots.

In the following Gordon Plant Novices' Hurdle, Echo Point (1.20) must not be missed after spread-eagling his Sedgefield rivals on a massively impressive British debut.

The former Irish bumper scorer looked head and shoulders above the opposition in the paddock beforehand and duly dished out the most fearful drubbing once the race was under way.

Trainer Richard Guest always gives his owners value for money, a point underlined by his near-faultless handling of the hard-pulling Admiral (2.50).

The fizzy four-year-old always fights for his head, generally not the done thing in the National Hunt sphere, where conservation of reserves in energy-sapping ground is more often then not the name of the game.

But with some headstrong horses such as Admiral restraining tactics just don't work, a ploy Guest quickly came to terms with and accordingly instructed his jockeys to let the gelding dictate from the front.

Guest will be delighted that only three turn up to take on Admiral for the £25,000 Casino Classic Hurdle, a valuable event which has been rather stupidly shunned by the majority of the top trainers.

By direct contrast, Huntingdon's Peterborough Chase has attracted a fantastic field, headed by the winner of the race 12 months previous, Le Roi Miguel.

Ruby Walsh was in the saddle on that occasion, however he now deserts Le Roi Miguel in favour of stable-companion Thisthatandtother (1.20).

The latter provided Ruby with a memorable triumph in the Daily Telegraph Chase at this year's Cheltenham Festival, a rousing win Walsh holds dear to his heart.

Walsh's opposition is straight out of the top drawer, most notably Monkerhostin, runner-up to Old Vic in last week's Paddy Power Gold Cup, a pot-boiler in which the Philip Hobbs-trained star once again covered himself in glory.

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