Saturday tips from Dave Nevison: four bets at Haydock

My Racing TV colleague, Angus McNae, was very hot on this young stayer when he was went sent off a well-backed favourite over this course and distance on his penultimate start. Valiancy finished third there and has been beaten at odds-on since, but I think this is the day for punters to recover their losses, and the key is the first-time cheekpieces.

Bred to be a real stayer, Valiancy has a habit of hitting a flat spot in his races and finishing with a surge. He needs waking up so that he is not caught flat footed when the race begins in earnest, and the headgear looks the answer. 

William Haggas has a three-year-old who I believe could end up contesting major staying races in the future, and the selection is racing off a rating of 83 here. He's definitely one to side with.

James Ferguson has obviously decided that Kildare Legend is a stayer having entered him in both the Irish and English Cesarewitch. The four-year-old has only had eight starts and has been a solid improver, while this step up to 1m6f for the first time looks an ideal stepping stone to those big staying prizes ahead.

Kildare Legend can make the running, as he showed when runner-up here in May, but there is plenty of pace forecast in this big field, and I will be very surprised if Daniel Muscutt goes forward from his wide draw. 

I doubt the rider will have a problem settling this likeable gelding and I expect his mount to come on for his encouraging return to action last time out. He's chalked up at 10-1, at the time of writing.

Jer Batt finished a close second in this race last year and is 3lb lower now, which is quite something given the strength of that form! 

The winner was Shagraan who recently won a Group Three contest, and Jer Batt finished ahead of American Affair who recorded Group One glory at Royal Ascot.

Jer Batt was a winner at Haydock in August last year and definitely saves his best efforts for this course and distance. The reason he has dropped in the weights is due to him not showing his best so far this season, but it is quite easy to dismiss modest efforts at idiosyncratic tracks such as Epsom and Chester, but his flat-track runs have been encouraging. 

David and Nicola Barron's sprinter is clearly very well handicapped, and Tom Marquand is a strong jockey booking. 

Ed Bethell’s gelding has been sent off favourite for all his starts this season and has only won one of them. This could sometimes be a cause for alarm, but A War Eagle has improved with each run and has faced some rapidly-improving, and well-handicapped, rivals, so despite appearing exposed, he could still be nicely treated. 

He has been raised a couple of pounds for his run behind the Ralph Beckett-trained Maybe Not who subsequently finished second in a hot Heritage Handicap at York. 

There doesn’t look to be anything improving at that rate in this field, and this looks a good opportunity for A War Eagle’s loyal supporters to get another payday.