Martin Dixon's Saturday tips: four best bets

Fergal O'Brien has had a quieter season than usual, by his own high standards, but the tide has really turned in recent days, with five winners between Sunday and Thursday this week, and Pull Again Green makes appeal for the in-form stable returning from an absence. 

He's always been a horse suited by lively ground conditions, which he'll get here, and although he's still only won once over fences, several of his placed efforts this season give him a big chance in this small-field affair. 

He's not so much of a thorough stayer as some of his rivals in this contest, and I think the fact he arrives here fresher than his main opposition is a positive.

Consistency has been a strong suit for Foster's Fortune this season. He’s finished in the first three on each of his seven starts, and at double-figure odds, I think he's worth a small each-way bet. 

Admittedly, this is a competitive race, but it's likely to be run at an end-to-end gallop, which will suit Chris Grant's gelding who ran well to finish third (behind a pair of subsequent winners) on his only previous visit to Kelso. 

On his latest outing he finished third behind the re-opposing Achnamara but swept into contention that day and was still challenging for the lead when crashing through the final flight, after which he got tired.

When Express Surprise won at Huntingdon in January, I thought he would be a horse to rattle off a sequence, such was the dominance of that performance. Although he's failed to justify favouritism at Market Rasen subsequently, that can be excused because he made two notable errors down the back straight as the race was developing. 

It's early days as a chaser but, generally, I'd view him as a sound jumper, and I think he has a lot more upside than the largely exposed bunch he takes on here. 

Stuart Coltherd must have got frustrated with Flash Du Pistolet, given it took him ten runs to win a race having made such a promising start in novice hurdles last season, but he made no mistake with an all-the-way success at Newcastle last time out where he jumped impeccably and always looked in command.

Now he's on the right path over fences, I'm confident he remains a very well handicapped horse after a 6lb rise in the weights. He's run well at this track before and, with several of his rivals arriving with a point to prove after lesser efforts, I think he could be tough to beat if given a similarly bold ride to last time.