Saturday tips: 40/1 Cesarewitch pick and more from Dave Nevison

This is the softest ground has ever raced on, but given he improved last year when winning on his first try on easier going I am very happy to take the risk and back Marco Botti’s three-year-old off bottom-weight here. 

Magico has proved he is well ready for a step up to this trip on his latest starts, winning nicely at on his penultimate run and then running a very good third at the Betfred St Leger Festival last time. In a more strongly-run race he may well have finished even closer than the 1 ½ lengths he was beaten at Doncaster, but the front two quickened away and he couldn’t overhaul them having conceded first run. 

Magico will almost certainly get a decent pace in this and, from a decent draw in stall 5, he should be able to get past plenty in this field. 

Andrew Balding’s seven-year-old hasn’t always been the luckiest of sprinters, being unable to show what he can do after regularly finding himself drawn or racing on the wrong side of the track in some of these big field sprints.

In this race last year King’s Lynn finished ninth but second home on the stands side and probably did as well as could be expected from stall 18. He is drawn in stall 4 this time and that should definitely help him, as should the fact that he looks the pace angle from the low numbers. His 5lbs-reduced mark should also help. 

King’s Lynn goes well for 3lbs claimer and his best recent efforts have come on softer ground(run off his feet in Ayr Gold Cup on fast ground last time).

runs here and this former Group class performer could well spreadeagle this field, but with bookmakers paying down to eight places I am happy taking a chance on an outsider to place. 

Trainer John McConnell doesn’t waste many bullets when he sends his runners over from Ireland and Anna Bunina has always performed with credit when he has sent her over here. She won the Scottish Champion Hurdle in 2022 but has found the handicapper in charge a little bit since then. She showed signs of coming back into a bit of form last time off a reduced hurdles mark and her Flat mark, which hasn’t altered with her absence, still looks a very manageable one. 

The booking of Tom Kiely-Marshall to claim a very valuable 5lb looks very significant and I will be disappointed if Anna Bunina cannot finish at least eighth in this. 

Hughie Morrison’s three-year-old didn’t settle well in a small field over two furlongs further last time and this lightly-raced runner may well be better suited by a big field and fast pace back at 10 furlongs. 

Surrey Fire made his racecourse debut on heavy ground at last back-end and handled conditions very well, so I don’t anticipate any issues with the testing conditions here.

was on board when Surrey Fire won his maiden and, with the yard finishing the season in good form, Surrey Fire might have a bit more improvement in him than some.