Saturday tips: Martin Dixon aiming to stay on a roll

It could be a good day day for Michael Dods, Paul Mulrennan and owners Sekura Group who also team up with the favourite, Norther Ticker, in the Ayr Gold Cup but Northern Express has a good chance of getting them on the board earlier in the day.

He hasn't managed to win this year but has generally contested even deeper handicaps than this, including when fifth at York's Ebor meeting last time, which I'd consider to be his best run of the year.

A rating of 98 is 4lb lower than his last winning mark, his draw in stall two should make it straightforward to get a plum position and having Mulrennan back on board is an advantage given he's been on for six of his seven career wins. 

It's rare that I'll head over the Irish Sea for a bet but St Faz has outstanding claims of making a winning debut for Gordon Elliott's yard in my opinion.

Joining a trainer of Elliott's calibre is an obvious positive to potentially trigger improvement this autumn but over and above that he has a very lenient mark of 116 back over hurdles here.

On his penultimate outing he ran in a big-field chase at Tipperary off a 4lb higher rating and impressed with how he tanked through that race, run down only by a rival that was played later in a strongly-run race.

I'd be surprised if St Faz wasn't just as effective over the smaller obstacles and I'm hopeful this fast-pace two-mile scenario will be a perfect test for him under Jack Kennedy. 

If the weather forecast is right then the heavens will open over Chester ahead of racing on Saturday and it could be very soft ground by the time they line up for this sprint, which would be a big plus to the well-handicapped Paws For Thought who is a five-time winner already around the Roodee.

With some slow starters and hold-up horses drawn on his inside I'm hoping he'll have enough dash from the stalls to get on or at least near the lead so it's a nice set up for him and he signalled at this track last time that his turn isn't far away when making most of the running at a strong pace.

Another positive is having Charlie Maggs back on board as he's partnered him to his past two wins and takes off a handy 5lb.