HEROS (1.15 Plumpton, nap)

Venetia Williams has been in blistering form so far this season. A tenner on all her runners in the past month would have paid for a very nice Christmas indeed. And she can keep the ball rolling with this six-year-old who tanked along when scoring at Taunton last time out. His jumping was particularly impressive for a horse making his chase debut as he went from the front to score with lots in hand. Charlie Deutsch is just about the best there is when it comes to riding in chases and he stays on board. You would expect plenty of improvement from that excellent first effort so a 6lb rise in the weights should hold no fears.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN (6.00 Wolverhampton, nb)

This son of Frankel has had three runs so far and improved each time he’s been on the track. After a solid fourth on debut at Southwell, he was a close-up second here. We saw him run well when second in the mud at Doncaster in April. He’s not been out since then but this step up in distance should bring enough improvement to get off the mark. The main threat comes from Sir Mark Prescott’s Alexandretta but she is developing a nasty habit of hitting the frame and possibly needs a longer trip.

MIDNIGHT MARY (2.15 Plumpton, treble)

She came back from six months off to run well over course and distance last time out. Stamina is her forte and she was up with the pace for all of this testing trip. Lucy Wadham’s hope didn’t give up and was a close third crossing the line. The standard of today’s opposition doesn’t look any stronger and she should take a step forward fitness-wise on ground that suits.

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chases their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed

Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk

Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org