Racing tips: Fiston De Becon can keep the strong OIly Murphy form rolling

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We'llhavewan is probably still well handicapped despite not winning the National Trial at Punchestown. Paul Townend rode him like he was the best-handicapped horse in the race and looked to have it sewn up with a couple of furlongs to go, but he didn't quite see the trip out, which saw him finish second as Gordon Elliott won the race for the fifth time in six years.

Carlisle 3:00 – Fiston De Becon 6/4 (1pt, Bet365/WilliamHill)

Other than Ben Pauling, the other yard which is on fire at the moment is Olly Murphy and he has a couple of really nice shouts at Carlisle, but one who is at a backable, albeit a short price, is Fiston De Becon.

This horse was booked for second place at Uttoxeter when my selection in the race, Thor De Cerisy was going clear after the second last but my horse fell and then unseated Fiston De Becon who would've won. Though he wouldn't have won if all horses stayed up, it was still a nice run and showed that he is more than capable of winning races off his current handicap mark. He wasn't going to get close to Thor De Cerisy, but that horse was well-handicapped on old pieces of form and had shown decent form going into that race, but Good Friday Fairy was back in third at the time (was the eventual winner) and that horse was bang in form, so I do rate the form of that Uttoxeter race.

Fiston De Becon is a horse in this race who is open to improvement as a chaser as he has only had two starts over fences and with Sean Bowen back in the saddle I think this lad could be tough to beat. He handles the heavy going, and will prefer the ground better than most, and combining that with an untouched handicap mark from last time, everything looks in his favour.

Carlisle 4:00 – Shighness 11/4 (1pt)

It did pain me to see Shighness win last time out as I put her up at Market Rasen on her 2nd chase start after she went for a public schooling session over 2m 4f at today's track, and she was atrocious at Market Rasen. However, she ran a nice race at Wetherby and then followed that up when the money was down at Catterick with an easy success.

Her handicap mark has gone up 4lbs for that easy win at Catterick where the Venetia horse did underperform, so the weight of that form is up in the air. However, I think the Wetherby run equals out the Catterick form as that looks solid. The winner has followed that up with another win, the fourth was second to the winner next time out and the fifth has bolted up over a shorter trip. Considering the money was down for her last time out, Micky Hammond's yard must've felt like she was ahead of the handicapper, so the 4lb rise shouldn't be enough to follow that win up.

Today's race is a tougher assignment, but she is progressive and was progressive over hurdles, so I'm expecting another big run, even with Brian Hughes in the saddle, who I am not a great fan of.

Carlisle 5:10 – Fevertre 15/2 (0.5pt EW, WilliamHill 3pl)

I am a big fan of trainers who send their horses on a trek, especially trainers who don't have many runners at the track and Fevertre fits the bill for this race.

Nicky Martin hasn't got as many horses as he used to, so it's interesting they're sending Fevertre up to Carlisle for the second time. This is his only runner on the card and James Best makes the trip up North for his only ride of the day, so a big run must be expected. He ran a creditable race last time he came to this venue, finishing a close second when backed into favourite in a Class 4 handicap, recording a career-best RPR of 108. His handicap mark since that run has dropped to 100, due to his form being poor since, but I think it's a positive they are coming back to Carlisle, back to the scene of his best performance and they are adding the first-time cheekpieces to aid him further.

Nicky Martin has only had two runners at the track and both have been in the top 3, so it's a benefit that extra places are on offer with the majority of major bookies.

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