BENTLEY evidently enjoys a trip to Southwell and he can make short shrift of a 6lb penalty at the Nottinghamshire venue.

The Brian Baugh-trained seven-year-old revelled in a course-and-distance cakewalk last month and should really be following up in the Visit Southwell Handicap.

Bentley successfully mixed it up on the Polytrack and Fibresand last year, and certainly looked a great deal better than his 58 rating last month.

As such, the burden of top weight here might not be as big an issue as some have suggested.

The Piccolo gelding may have been in top trim this winter, but he really stepped things up a notch or two without the use of blinkers last time.

Baugh has again discarded the headgear, while also recalling the services of Graham Gibbons, who gets on very well with the horse.

This does not look as good a handicap as in December and it would be surprising if he does not travel with customary fluency, such is his wellbeing.

Albertus Pictor, meanwhile, can atone for his defeat at Lingfield when he lines up at Wolverhampton.

Sir Mark Prescott’s fouryear- old grey was a ready winner over an inadequate trip in November and was unsurprisingly sent off at short odds upon his return to Surrey.

It all went awry, however, as he was hamstrung by a crawling pace and muddling tactics, eventually coming home third from a pretty desperate position.

Stevie Donohoe is unlikely to make such a mistake though, and can be expected to utilise every drop of Albertus Pictor’s stamina if a similar situation arises.

Competing off the same mark at Dunstall Park, he looks to have a cracking chance in the wolverhampton- racecourse.co.uk Handicap.

Molon Labe should be followed earnestly in the Huntingdon Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle at the Cambridgeshire circuit.

The four-year-old chestnut was no great shakes on the Flat, but Tom Tate no doubt possessed long-term hurdling designs from day one.

It was a gameplan which was very nearly vindicated on heavy ground at Hexham in November when he jumped nicely to take second spot behind Danceintothelight.

He idled a shade once in a winning position that day but can be expected to be a much wiser, more streetwise animal upon his return to the track.

Veteran Jug Of Punch can clock up his first victory for an age when he goes to battle in the in the Racing UK Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

Simon Lewis’ 12-year-old has not won since April 2008, when successful off a mark of 108 at Cheltenham.

It has sadly been a protracted tale of woe since then, however, as he has quite spectacularly slithered down the ratings.

His form this season again remained shoddy until his return at Ludlow in November, when he was used much more positively and finished second in a fair handicap over three miles.

He stayed on nicely that day to suggest the extra couple of furlongs will be ideal.

Although Jug Of Punch was perhaps unfairly raised 5lb for his Ludlow second, he surely remains ultra-competitive off a perch of 70 and should go well in this humble encounter.