Dave Nevison's Thursday Tips: Conditional's claim could do the trick for Magic

Racecourse appearances have been fairly sporadic in recent seasons for this one and Kim Bailey's 10-year-old has only one good relatively recent run to his name. However, that Warwick second came off a 9lb higher mark than today so he is definitely well handicapped if he could reproduce that effort.

He has undergone a wind op after his disappointing run in January and he is tried in a hood and a tongue strap for the first time here. I tend to take a positive view if headgear is used on the run immediately after an operation/lay-off, feeling that it suggests a positive intent (although I concede it could simply be desperation!).

Aliandy’s most consistent run of form came when running on ground similar to the conditions he will encounter here and his stable have been in excellent form throughout this season so there are positives. Hopefully he will be a decent price too.

While he may never be as good as his illustrious near-namesake, hopefully the switch to fences might bring about his first win here. He has certanly run okay in a few novice events over timber and looked to show marginally improved form at Taunton last time out.

His jumping over hurdles hasn't always been great, but it may be that he respects fences more than he did the smaller obstacles and it's interesting to see that connections are starting off in handicap company now he begins life as chaser, perhaps suggesting they believe he could be off an exploitable mark. The market will no doubt give us some indication of expectations.

Undeniably the old timer of this party, but he still retains plenty of ability and ran very well on his only previous appearance at this track. He has run some of his better recent races after a break so I am not too concerned about his absence since November - indeed I am hopeful it could be a positive.

He is usually ridden by a claimer, recently Richard Patrick who has been taking off 3lb, but his replacement Cillin Leonard is definitely catching many eyes and takes off a very valuable 7lb. This, coupled with a falling handicap mark and the replacement of cheekpieces with a visor, will hopefully will be enough for Magic Dancer to gain an overdue success.