Racing tips: Kepy Blanc looks set to give Mr Ben Sutton a first win over rules

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Monday's only selection of the day ran a stinker. He was keen for a good while and that didn't help his cause, but that wasn't enough to be the reason for the poor performance, as he was simply not good enough or not at the races. Frustrating as I thought he was a shoo-in to be in the top 2, behind the favourite, who ended up winning and drifting out to a very backable price.

Chepstow 2:00

I can see why punters are latching on to Manothepeople on his chase debut as he hails from a good yard (Fergal O'Brien) and ended last season in good form over hurdles, winning on his last two starts. The fact there is some early money around for him suggests either that connections really fancy their chances with him, or early punters are trying to beat the odds. At the current odds, he can't be a bet on chase debut with a fitness question to be answered too.

Overall, this race is a really competitive race and you could make a case for the majority in the race, but the one I've latched onto is the Nicky Henderson-trained FAROUK DE CHENEAU, who undoubtedly has the best form on offer, and will have to be ahead of his mark to win off top-weight, but I believe that is possible.

Some might notice that on his most recent run he finished as runner-up behind Kinodo Kwetu who was a winning selection for me in recent weeks, who managed to win again at Aintree on the weekend just gone. For me, that is the strongest bit of form in the field, and I don't think it's even close. That horse was clearly ahead of the handicapper when Farouk De Cheneau met him that day, and I still believe he is well-handicapped, two wins later on.

Farouk De Cheneau's first run of the season was a good return to racing finishing 2nd being a nice-looking Fergal O'Brien horse who seemed ahead of the handicapper, proven by the fact he has managed to win again since. I thought that was a nice opening race to gain fitness, but it seems that the form is starting to work out lovely. Back in third, you had Shetland Bus, who has won a couple of times since and has been a winning selection from a couple of you in the comments. Even the horse which finished last (4th), Charlie Uberalles went on to win in his next race, so there is definitely some substance.

He has the fitness edge over nearly every horse in the race, still lightly raced and will handle the ground. I think Aeronisi could be the one to keep an eye out for. That horse won at Fontwell last time out on chase and stable debut but takes a decent step up in grade today. Watching his race back he did make a few blunders and does tend to jump low, and that could spell disaster, but running off a much lower weight makes him of interest and any late market support would make me worried about my selection.

Bangor-on-Dee 1:45

The favourite for this race is recent course and distance winner KEPY BLANC, who is currently priced up at around 13/8 which is a fair enough price in my opinion.

He managed to win with plenty of authority last time around, winning by 14L and the 11lb rise in the weights which the handicapper has given him, 7lb of it is taken away from the jockey, Mr Ben Sutton, which is an obvious plus. I'm not fully sure about the rider, as he seems very inexperienced without a win over rules, which is a concern, but the fact a big yard and well-respected yard like Phillip Hobbs has taken him on boards suggests he is a decent rider. With the horse effectively only being up 4lbs for his recent easy win, if he jumps well, this could be a steering job, so the jockey could've found a nice horse to be on for his first win.

Donald McCain does well at this track, with it being his most local racecourse to his stables, so his runner Obey The Rules will have to be very respected for the Champion jockey Brian Hughes. However, I am fairly confident that Kepy Blanc wins this if he makes it easy for his rider.

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