Saturday horse racing tips: Four best bets from Dave Nevison

Some big shake ups are going to happen over the weekend in Ireland, with my eyes largely on the clash between State Man and Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle on Sunday. The mare is on a recovery mission and this could decide where she is headed at Cheltenham.

I am sticking to these shores for my weekend selections, with the quest for the Saturday Yankee still on.

1.45 Sandown: Red Rookie

If he comes on for his decent reappearance then he should prove that he’s very well-handicapped.

Red Rookie looks a little unfortunate to have two falls in his figures from five starts over fences, as generally he has taken well to chasing and on both occasions he was in the process of running a good race. One of his falls came in the Arkle last season.

He finds himself in a race that should suit him really well and with plenty of pace likely. He should be able to pick rivals off up the Sandown hill (where few horses fall) in a field which comprises useful but exposed types.

2.03 Musselburgh: Slipway

I cannot desert Slipway, who did us a 10/1 favour (some of us got 14s) when bolting up in the Perth version of this race.

Ben Pauling is having a brilliant season and seems to have found out that this horse needs a test of stamina but also a good gap between his runs to produce his best form. He looks a class act in this and should certainly be fresh enough as he hasn’t appeared since he bolted up in the Southern National at Fontwell in November. He has struck up a good relationship with Luca Morgan and the combination may be a class above these.

I have run out of patience waiting for The Wolf to knuckle down to things, but maybe it is at this track that he does so given he ran a good second to Captain Cattistock in this event last year. That race was just a six-runner affair though and both are here again in a much more competitive race.

3.16 Musselburgh: Grivetana

She is on a recovery mission after she was backed off the boards against her own sex at Newbury last time but seemed to get bogged down in deteriorating ground and never looked like winning. Grivetana is up against geldings now, but unless the ground goes again I think she may show herself very well in this event.

Her previous run in the Gerry Fielden suggested she was very well-handicapped when only just getting run down by First Street, a high-class handicapper for Nicky Henderson.

This tight track may well suit her prominent running style better than a big galloping course like Newbury and her trainer Paul Nicholls has pretty much farmed this race in recent seasons.

3.48 Musselburgh: Cuban Cigar

He might not have won on his first run after a wind operation but it certainly seemed to bring about improvement last time.

That good run in fourth was in a considerably better race than this, with the third and fifth both winning next time out and the first two holding good chances against Grivetana earlier on the card.

Patrick Wadge is an eye-catching booking and he rides his first mount with a chance for a week or two. He claims a valuable 7lbs and usually goes close when he gets these chances.

Trip and ground are ideal for Cuban Cigar and going from a 0-145 to a 0-110 handicap is a huge drop through the divisions.