Martin Dixon's Saturday tips: Queen's Cup nap plus other Musselburgh bets

With lightly-raced contenders from the Balding, Boughey, Johnston and Burke yards in this contest, I'm not surprised that Kanishka has been overlooked on the early prices, as he represents a smaller yard plus has had more racing. However, I think he's shaped well in his two starts back on the all-weather this year, and odds as big as 10-1, at the time of writing, are appealing. 

On his latest start at Southwell, he rallied strongly in the latter stages having come off the bridle before the other principals, and was beaten less than half a length. Watching that, I can see why first-time cheekpieces may have a positive effect. 

I think that race last week was a strong contest, too, with last-time-out winners filling the first three positions, and I like his rail draw in stall one. The booking of Harry Davies is another positive.

There's a case of deja vu here, because I tipped Wise Eagle each-way for the same race in this column last year when he finished a very honourable fourth behind Kihavah, and I'm going in again this time around.

There's no doubt his form tailed off for a few runs after but, as a result, he now arrives here 8lb lower than when lining up in this in 2025, and his past couple of hurdle outings have suggested that he's back in top form, staying on stoutly for third in the very competitive bet365 Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso in February. 

I think this is a significantly weaker race than last year, too - more than half of the field would be eligible for a 0-85 contest - and he has a fine record at this track. Available at 13-2, at the time of writing, he's my nap of the day. 

Canon's House disappointed on his final couple of starts last year, but he'd had a lot of racing, and had done a lot of improving by that point, winning four times and rattling up the handicap. I'm hoping he's ready to resume his progress after a winter break now. 

On last season's reappearance, he won by six lengths, so he can clearly go well fresh, and from just a 2lb higher mark than his final win last year - in a valuable and competitive race - I still believe there's mileage in his rating. 

He's a fast horse who breaks well from the stalls, and this race has been dominated in recent years by high draws, so from stall 11, I'm hopeful he'll be in the right place on the track. 

He's 16-1, at the time of publishing this column, but I'd expect those odds to shorten, perhaps significantly so.