Inside Angle: Martin Dixon has a 25-1 selection

I've no doubt that Touleen is the one to beat in this year's Fred Darling but she's a tight enough price at 15-8 and to me Splish Splash has wrongly been totally overlooked the by the market with 25-1 available at the time of writing.

She's a filly with an excellent pedigree, by Wootton Basset out of the Group One winning mare Skitter Scatter, and her juvenile form was progressive with each start, clocking a fast time when hammering next-time-out winner Zooming (who reopposes, and is a much shorter price here) at Haydock and then finishing third in Listed company to end her season.

That Newmarket listed form was boosted this week when the runner-up, Azleet, won the Nell Gwyn, so it may have been an even better effort than it appeared at the time. Given her stallion, I'm optimistic that she will be fully effective over 7f this year and at the big odds I'm happy to take the chance each-way.

Regular readers of this column will be aware that looking at the pace map and how a race is likely to develop, in particular in shorter distance races on the Flat, is an approach I take regularly and I like that Kings Merchant is drawn close enough to a couple of front runners in this sprint, with Iris Dancer in stall 7 and Lord Abama in 9.

A dual course and distance winner in 2024, he's dropped a long way in the weights over the past 12 months but shaped like he was back in top form at Newcastle on his most recent start, travelling well and just pushed further towards the centre of the track than ideal to make his challenge. Callum Rodriguez is a positive jockey booking, going back to Thirsk is surely ideal and he's thrown in if building on the positive signs of that last run. 

Weighing up form versus potential is a regular conundrum for punters but I tend to side more with the proven form in the book and, although he's been very impressive and has a big reputation, Apache Tribe is taking on stronger opponents than for either of his wins and is a favourite I'm happy to oppose. 

West Hill Verde has yet to win over hurdles, but that means he's in receipt of weight from his main rivals here and he ran a huge race when third in a Grade Two at Kelso last month, doing particularly well that day after a blunder down the back straight. 

He had also shaped well a few times earlier in the season, including when third behind the classy pair Act Of Innocence and Sinnatra at Newbury in November, so there's no doubt he's well up to winning races soon and I'm hopeful this return to a longer trip will suit as well. Seamus Mullins had a winner earlier this week and 9-2 looks a fair price.