AFTER a whirlwind week at Cheltenham, you’d be forgiven for not getting excited on a relatively quiet Saturday. However the world of racing hardly ever stops and with Matchbook supporting today’s card at Kempton, there is some deal of substance to the offerings.

Ten go to post for the Matchbook Silver Plate Handicap Hurdle and it’s easy to see why Nicky Henderson’s Burrows Edge is at the top of the market. There was lots of reasons to find encouragement in his comeback run over this course and distance, when he finished second to the progressive Erick Le Rouge and just ahead of subsequent winner Canyon City, last time out. That was his first run in 301 days and just his sixth run over hurdles so he has loads of scope to progress.

However, I’m not sure that Honest Vic should be nearly twice the price at 6/1. Henry Daly’s six-year-old ran okay on his first three starts this season but he put up a career best performance when a close second to Brio Conti in a valuable handicap hurdle at Ascot last month. Wearing a visor for the first time and racing over an extended two miles and three furlongs, he stayed the trip really well and only just failed to catch the likely well handicapped winner, who boosted that form when finishing an excellent fourth in the Coral Cup. In fact, the form of the race could hardly have worked out better, with the third Ballyandy, going on to fill that place in the Coral Cup also, and the fourth Malaya, winning the Imperial Cup at Sandown last Saturday impressively. The visor is back on today and over an extra furlong and a half, and off just a 4lb higher mark, he could be a really tough proposition for the favourite.

In the following race, the Matchbook Silver Bowl Handicap Chase, Harry Fry’s Onefortheroadtom is favourite at the time of writing and I’m not sure if that is correct. He has only had four runs over fences and he produced his best effort on his latest run, when sixth in a good two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase won by Kildisart at Cheltenham in January. He has scope to improve on his second handicap start now but it is all potential with him.

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained El Terremoto isn’t exactly a more solid or established horse, but he has scope to progress off a lightly-raced profile also. On the face of it, his second Alizee De Janeiro at Kelso is a disappointing effort considering he was an Even money favourite, but there are reasons to be more optimistic. It was his first run since coming off a 136-day break and since falling twice so you can be sure he was ridden a little more tentatively in order to get a bit more confidence. He was also trying give 25lbs to the Lucinda Russell-trained winner, who is something of a specialist at the course, having won there three times before.

The step up in trip could well suit the son of Spirit One now and with his confidence back and on this just his seventh run over fences, he could put up a big performance.

UTTOXETER

Over at Uttoxeter the Marston’s Deep 61 Midlands National takes centre stage but earlier on the card De Rasher Counter looks a really interesting proposition in the Brit Plant Direct Novices’ Handicap Chase.

Trained by Emma Lavelle, the seven-year-old will be having just his sixth start over fences and seems to be going in the right direction after two really eyecatching pieces of form. On his penultimate run at Newbury, he beat subsequent 888sport.com Handicap Chase winner Walt, to whom he was conceding 4lbs, by a head.

He then went on to finish a six-length second to Now McGinty at Chepstow. That rival has since gone on to win the Reynoldstown Chase at Ascot and wasn’t at all disgraced by finishing eighth in a vintage RSA Chase on Wednesday.

Considering De Rasher Counter had to concede 6lbs to that rival, who is now rated 145, he could be very well treated off a mark of 140, and with scope to improve on just his sixth ever run in any case, he should be up to winning this three-mile contest.

Recommended

HONEST VIC, 1 point win, 6/1 (general)

DE RASHER COUNTER, 2 points win, 4/1 (general)

EL TERREMOTO, 1 point win, 11/2 (general)