BETTING in a beginners' chase is not for the faint-hearted, however there shouldn't be too many palpitations in the case of Bangor- bound Mughas (1.10).

A quick trawl through past performance shows just what a good servant Mughas has been to connections throughout what can only be described as a stopstart career.

Jump racing puts an awful amount of strain on a thoroughbred's front pins and Alan King's eight-year-old has suffered from his fair share of injury problems.

But patience is a virtue in the National Hunt game, a point emphasised when he returned from a massive 83-week break to finish second at Plumpton recently.

Unlucky to bump into a Paul Nicholls-trained budding star at the Sussex venue, Mughas has a much easier task to get his head in front for this afternoon twoand- a-half-mile test.

Channel 4's cameras make a fleeting visit to the track to cover the following three-mile Anderson Handicap Hurdle.

Armchair punters will have twigged that David Pipe has dominated televised racing over the past two weekends, a repeat of which is on the cards courtesy of Joacci (1.45).

Pipe's representative generally hits bulls-eye at around this time of year, witness back-toback Hereford wins in December and January around 12 months ago.

Joacci's fortunes then took a nose-dive until running a cracker to nab third place in fiercely competitive contest at Cheltenham in October.

Joacci can be a tad hit-andmiss but if in that sort of mood, another trip to the winners' enclosure surely beckons.

■ Howard Johnson is leaning towards a tilt at the Arkle with his exciting novice chaser Tidal Bay.

The six-year-old is unbeaten in three races over fences this season after proving himself to be a top-class performer over hurdles last term.

There has already been plenty of talk over his target at the Cheltenham Festival, reminiscent of the debate over which race My Way De Solzen would run in last season.

And Johnson will be hoping for the same result in March.

Tidal Bay will have another run about the end of January,'' said Johnson.

I'm going to drop him back to two miles for his next run because I still say he is more of an Arkle horse, the end-to-end gallop will suit him more than the SunAlliance.

When it comes to the crunch he will always find a bit more and he really wants genuine good ground. He has a funny head carriage, like a lot of Flemensfirth's, but with an end-toend gallop he'll have to get his head down then.

It's just been the way he has been since we've had him."

Tidal Bay is a top-price 12-1 with Paddy Power for the Arkle and 10-1 with totesport for the Royal & SunAlliance Chase.