ONLYTIME WILL TELL (2.30) has the look of a ready-made winner in Southwell's Betfred Million Selling Stakes.

If the race were a handicap the eight-year-old would be conceding lumps of weight to most of his rivals, but being a stakes event he's able to compete on extremely advantageous terms.

It's a crying shame to see a once classy customer such as Onlytime Will Tell in bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, but beggars can't be choosers and ability-wise even a glimmer of his old form would get him home today.

Another major talking point revolves around the participation of Border Music (4.00) in the betfredpoker.com Handicap.

Andrew Balding's super-smart five-year-old has been cleaning up on the all-weather circuit, reeling off a spectacular four-timer at Lingfield (2), Wolverhampton, and Kempton.

His most recent success was in a Conditions contest off a mark of 102, so the fact he's able to resume on turf from a rating of 79 makes him just about the nearest thing to a handicap certainty you'll ever find.

Cava Bien (3.30), an improved performer over hurdles this winter, bids to end a losing streak stretching right back to October 2004.

He was trained by James Given but has now joined Bernard Llewellyn's stable in deepest Wales.

Llewellyn's charge has tumbled down the ratings from 70 to 44 as a result of some pretty dire efforts on the level during 2005, but there was much more to like about his latest second placing in a Newbury handicap hurdle.

Although Cava Bien is no world-beater, he's been found a very weak affair in which to try to make a welcome and overdue return to the coveted winners' enclosure.

Rod Millman has his horses in fine fettle, paving the way for Nina Fontenail (5.40) to build on a most encouraging reappearance at Lingfield last month.

Despite the five-year-old mare posting both last season's victories over a mile-and-a-half, I strongly believe Bath's stiff ten-furlong track will be a sufficient test of stamina to bring out the best in her.

One thing's for sure - don't expect Nina Fontenail to appear on the scene until the closing stages, because her job over this trip will be to swoop fast and late under the vastly underrated rider, Rob Havlin. * Graham Lee will team up with You're Special for the first time on Saturday as trainer Ferdy Murphy chases a £250,000 bonus in the Betfred Gold Cup.

The bookmakers offer the huge prize to any horse that can win at the Cheltenham Festival before going on to success in the Grade Three feature on the final day of the jumps season at Sandown.

You're Special has his Festival win in the bag after taking the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup, although Murphy could have opted to run fellow Cheltenham winner Hot Weld, successful in the National Hunt Chase, instead.

However, he believes six-time chase winner You're Special stands a better chance of landing the jackpot than his more lightly-raced stablemate.

''We had the choice between running him and Hot Weld but we felt Hot Weld probably wasn't experienced enough for a big race like the Betfred,'' explained the Leyburn handler."

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