Charlie Huggins seeks to build on 5-1 win with three horse racing tips at Sandown and Sedgefield

The King Of Ryhope finished third behind Colonel Harry in the Towton Novices’ Chase at Wetherby. Similarly, the winner at Ffos Las, Carbon King, was pitched into Grade 2 company on his next start but did not perform well, being pulled up by Conor Ring. The Warwick novice contest, won by Grey Dawning, was strong, as it featured Grade 1 heroine Apple Away and three-time Cheltenham scorer Broadway Boy. Fine Casting gave 5lb to Carbon King and later finished third at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

Matata, the runner-up to Fine Casting, was beaten by JPR One in a Grade 2 at Lingfield. JPR One had been third in the Henry VII Novices’ Chase, and Fine Casting had previously beaten the fourth from that Grade 1, Petit Tonnerre. With a similar trip and track to the previous 16-runner Imperial Cup, Ben Pauling’s eight-year-old has potential, paired with a favorable weight.

Barrichello finished third behind Thunder Rock on his chasing debut at Uttoxeter and later faced an impossible task attempting to give 13lb to Notlongtillmay at Musselburgh. Wind surgery seemed beneficial, as he won by 25 lengths on his first run back from the operation at Bangor in November 2021. Donald McCain’s Wind surgery should also help his chances, as he won by 25 lengths on his first run back from the last time he had that operation at Bangor in November 2021. The drop back to 2m1f and the return to a 2m4f trip should suit.

East India Express, trained by Nicky Henderson, made a successful hurdling debut in November in a novice hurdle. The race was again franked as Billy Boi Blue, the runner-up, won his next start. Monks Meadow, the third, finished behind a subsequent race winner on his next start, while the fifth also had a good subsequent performance. East India Express faced a Cheltenham Festival favorite in Gidleigh Park on soft ground at Newbury last time, but returns to a right-handed track on a quicker surface. He looks potentially well treated off a mark of 123 on his handicap debut.