Saturday horse racing tips: Five picks from Dave Nevison

2.05 Kempton: Yorksea

He looks well treated.

Yorksea ran a very eye-catching race in the Betfair Hurdle last time, finishing strongly to be fourth and beaten 12 ¾ lengths at the line. It is fair to say Niall Houlihan overdid the hold-up tactics and left his mount with far too much to do and it is definitely possible that he might have made a winning challenge if he had been closer early.

Yorksea is off the same mark here (but ran above it to my eyes at Newbury) and this step up in trip looks very likely to bring about further improvement. He looks another possible Saturday winner for the Moore team.

2.40 Kempton: Fidelio Vallis

Harry Derham is doing well with the horses he has inherited from former boss Paul Nicholls and this is another one who had appeared to lose form for Ditcheat before showing something was still there on debut for the new trainer.

Fidelio Vallis had been more than a year off the track when he appeared at Musselburgh in early February and he seemed to really enjoy himself, beaten only 4 ½ lengths into second at the line after running and jumping well out in front. He has been given time to get over that and, if he confirms that run or even improves a little, he will be a real contender here.

This track at Kempton is similar to Mussselburgh and certainly on pedigree he should stay the extra two furlongs well enough.

3.00 Uttoxeter: Secret Reprieve and Major Dundee

This annual slog is one for specialists and I am reluctantly passing over The Galloping Bear and Guetapan Collonges for two horses who also look to be well suited by conditions and might be bigger prices and possibly better value.

It is very easy to think that this has been a plan for Secret Reprieve, who looked like he might be better than this when he won the Welsh National a couple of seasons back. He has had few issues since but has come back promisingly this season and certainly looked as though there was improvement to come last time when not knocked about for third at Cheltenham. He has been dropped a couple of pounds and is now looking very attractively weighted.

Major Dundee is another who is hoping to regain winning form and it looks likely it will be in one of these marathons if he does so.

He stayed on well over an inadequate trip last time on his first run for four months and he looks certain to go better off bottom weight in a race such as this. He will hopefully be perfectly primed for this after five weeks off and I like Alan King’s runners in these events, while jockey Rex Dingle surely deserves a change of luck after his fantastic effort in the Stayers’ Hurdle where he was rewarded with a real kick in the teeth after his mount Dashel Drasher was demoted a place, a cruel move by the stewards.

3.50 Kempton: Southern Sam

He is seemingly difficult to get to the track but when he does invariably runs well.

Southern Sam looks the type who, if easier to train, would have ended up in much higher grade than the 0-120 bracket and trainer Richard Bandey looks to have found a good opportunity here in a race less competitive than the numbers might suggest.

Southern Sam clearly runs well after an absence, so I am not worried about him not being seen since November where he ran a close second despite losing a shoe. If that had stayed on he might have been raised out of this grade and he gets a good chance of compensation here.