Thursday tips: three best bets at Perth from Dave Nevison

Dan Skelton would no doubt have hoped a handicap of this grade would carry more prize money than it does as he bids to land his first trainers' championship, but his Hidden History looks a strong favourite to scoop the first prize of £7,922. 

Skelton's charge came back from a winter break and was well backed when winning at Uttoxeter in good style. That form couldn’t have worked out better, with the runner-up, Wellington Arch, scoring next time out at Aintree, so a 7lb rise in the weights therefore looks pretty lenient. 

Hidden History’s rivals here are largely exposed, and going over the same trip as last time, this looks set to be another important winner for the Skelton’s. 

It looks a good move dropping this son of Kayf Tara down in trip, despite him running pretty well over distances around 2m4f on his latest starts. 

His only victory over hurdles came over the minimum trip on his final outing last season at Southwell, a track not dissimilar to Perth but the other way round.

The selection travels strongly in his races which means he weakens at the end of longer trips, and sometimes makes mistakes. A decent pace over the minimum trip might well suit him very well here, though. 

Belle of Annandale finished a good second over course and distance less than a year ago and looks an interesting contender here.

She has dropped to a rating 14lb lower than that effort, and hasn’t excelled in two runs for her current yard so far, but R Mike Smith's charge has endured a wind op since her latest effort. 

The booking of Sean Bowen looks to be very significant, and if booking the champion jockey-elect and the wind operation work positively, then she has a clear chance of going one better than June last year.