Saturday tips from Dave Nevison: "He has a great chance"

Marche D’Aligre won on his British debut last season, but hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency for Jamie Snowden since. On occasions, he has produced performances that suggest he could be well handicapped, and that he's definitely capable of better. Hopefully, that could be on Saturday afternoon. 

He had excuses on his penultimate start when stepped up in trip on soft ground, and I am wondering whether he hadn’t adjusted to the wind operation last time out. 

He has been given a short break since that run, which may be a plus, and Jamie Snowden is in strong form. Perhaps significantly, Snowden has applied cheekpieces for the first time here, and there looks to be enough going on to bring about a good run at a price. He's a general 14-1, at the time of writing.

Sandy Thomson is in the best form he has been in for a couple of seasons, with four winners from his past ten runners, at time of writing. I Am Max has the look of a chaser, and has won races over fences but, on balance, he is better over hurdles, and showed his appreciation for a return to the smaller obstacles last time out when runner-up at Doncaster. 

A look through his form shows that the eight-year-old seems to excel on flat, left-handed tracks, including Haydock, and I think he may be capable of better returning to this venue. 

I definitely thought, by this stage in his career, I Am Max would have been rated much higher than 117, and he might still have the potential to prove how good he has promised to be on occasions. He's a general 16-1 chance.

Mr Lincoln last ran on the flat off an Irish mark of 84, and gets in off a British mark of 79 here, which definitely gives him scope. 

Iain Jardine hadn’t got too much out of him since the gelding moved from Ireland, but things definitely started to look better last time out. 

He was beaten a short-head in a low-grade handicap hurdle at Carlisle, and if this marks a return to form, he could prove to be well handicapped.

A strong pace at Musselburgh looks likely to suit him well, and a good run at a price (22-1 is available on Friday) looks possible if Mr Lincoln is in the same sort of form as last time out.

I am sticking with Genois after he did me a decent-priced favour when coming with a late run to win cosily at Exeter last time out, and he's only been raised 4lb since. 

My argument for him then was that in the context of veteran chaser’s, the Jonjo & A J O'Neill-trained gelding was relatively unexposed, and may still have upside in him, while most of his rivals here are generally in steady decline. 

Genois has definitely got his previously sticky jumping under control, and looks much more accomplished chaser this season. He came from off the pace at Exeter, and will be suited by what looks set to be a strong gallop here, so he has a great chance of scoring again.