Dave Nevison's top tips for Saturday: Head for Reikers Island

Betting expert Dave Nevison suggests his three best bets for Saturday. The trio all run at Ascot.

Not been the easiest to place but to my mind he now seems to have arrived at a mark he can again win off.

He was well backed last time at Taunton but came up against a course specialist who was also dropping in grade in Unison. In the circumstances, he was still a very respectable second.

Air Horse One has run some of his best races at Ascot and today’s distance looks ideal nowadays, especially with a strong pace almost guaranteed.

With the exception of the Hobb runner, Umndeni, most of his rivals look fairly exposed.

This young horse is taking on former Gold Cup winners, as well as the likes of Black Corton and Bryony Frost, but he is off a low weight and a very handy mark of just 140.

He hacked up at Wincanton before running brilliantly behind Carole’s Destrier at Newbury, where a mistake at the last might well have cost him victory.

Reikers Island is very much the improver here and rates the nap selection.

Readers might know I am a big fan of Champ, the ante-post favourite for the Ballymore Novices Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Getaway Trump could help that horse’s price contract even further if he lands this rerouted handicap hurdle, as he has been the only one to have seriously threatened the Henderson star.

The only slight worry about Getaway Trump is that he has not as yet put up a good figure on the clock but in my opinion he will put that right on Saturday afternoon.

Novice races are rarely very well run and he didn’t settle fully in the Newbury contest. He promises to be much better suited by the pace of this race, which has been farmed by similar high class novices over recent years.