BRIGHT sparks plugging into Woodlands Genpower (1.30) have every reason to get excited about his prospects in Warwick's Watch Security Novices Chase.

Eight days ago at the course Woodlands Genpower stormed into what seemed an unassailable lead at the second last fence, but victory was snatched from his grasp when Nicky Henderson's Royal Courrouge produced a turbo-charged late rally to grab the spoils on the line.

Paul Pritchard's grey wasn't stopping that day. He was simply beaten by a horse of potential Cheltenham Festival standard. Admittedly Woodlands Genpower now faces another couple of tough adversaries in Avitta and Eskimo Pie, but he still possesses ticks in all of the right boxes.

Another unlucky loser nailed by no more than a coat of paint was Vic The Piler, edged out in a thrilling four-way photo at Hexham last month.

The punting public went absolutely bananas on the Nicky Richards-trained gelding that day, supporting him down to 6-4 favourite in a what looked quite a warm handicap.

Judging by the ludicrously short price there was clearly an immense amount of confidence behind Vic The Piler (2.00), cash which almost certainly tells us he's been absolutely flying on the home gallops.

It would be a shame if a similar cramped betting scenario occurs in the Mitie Handicap Hurdle, but it will be no surprise if the big hitters again get stuck in because Tony Dobbin's mount really does make stacks of appeal.

Siding against the unstoppable Venetia Williams represents financial suicide since no trainer in the land boasts a superior strike-rate over the past couple of weeks.

Venetia, who knocked in a double at Plumpton yesterday, now heads along the south coast to Folkestone where Lord Olympia (1.10) will be a popular choice.

Lord Olympia found himself on the wrong end of a 29-length drubbing from Zabenz when runner-up on his recent Hereford reappearance. It's not often a horse gets beaten that far and can claim to have performed with credit, but seeing as Zabenz is one of this term's top novice chasers, Lord Olympia didn't do too badly in the circumstances.

Nick Gifford initially struggled to follow in the footsteps of his famous father, Josh, who passed on the licence in 2004.

Thankfully Nick's recent results show he's now turned the corner and Mulligatawny (2.40) can bring more cheer to the stable by capturing the Weatherbys Bank Handicap Chase.

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