Cheltenham tips: Friday best bets from Dave Nevison

on her latest start and I am still a little peeved about the fact that her finishing position now shows her as having finished sixth, . 

Anyway, it’s time to move on and it will certainly help if Anna Bunina lands at least a place here, which I feel pretty confident about. She last ran over hurdles in this country off a mark of 140 when she once again finished seventh in the Pertemps at the Festival in March. Her finishing effort stalled a little close home and I think it is likely that three miles over hurdles stretches her a little, so and this 2 ½ mile trip could be absolutely ideal. 

The slight drop in grade should help and she gets on very well with Alex Harvey, who is on board again, so a good run looks very likely. 

This nine-year-old is coming back to fences after a two-year sabbatical over hurdles where he improved his mark and contested Grade Two Level. I am pretty sure this event will have been the target for his comeback and there are solid reasons for backing The Newest One here. 

Firstly, he is back down to his latest winning mark over fences (now lower than over hurdles) and he also made a winning reappearance in a chase back in October 2021, while he ran very well over hurdles on his reappearance last season.

He only finished fifth when he came back in this corresponding race two years ago, but hadn’t ended the previous season in great form and disappointed on his next run and was subsequently rested for a while.

I am hoping his enthusiasm for chasing has been rekindled and he might well be one to catch fresh. 

Fiercely Proud might be a bit of a blot on the handicap and is on my list of horses to be with in handicaps early doors this season. 

I don’t know why he was dropped a pound after his final run last season as he came from too far back and could have finished a lot closer if he had got going earlier. 

claims 10lbs against fellow conditionals here because he hasn’t ridden a winner yet under Rules. However, he has been runner up twice this week for his boss Ben Pauling who seems to have been preparing him for this very significant race for aspiring young jockeys. 

There is likely to be a good strong pace in this and I feel the finish at should suit Fiercely Pround very well, and I expect a very good run.