Scoop6 January 28 Betting Preview Part 1

We'll have nearly half a million quid up for grabs in the Scoop6 pool this Saturday and the prize remains distinctly winnable with several high-profile contests anchoring an all-jumps card. Cheltenham Trials Day factors for four of the six contests and today's action should prove to be very productive for those keeping their eyes on festival time.

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The day begins at 1:30 at Cheltenham for the novices handicap chase, which is a class 2 event, going 2m5f. Expect good to soft going conditions to hold throughout the entirety of the card. This one is tougher because you're dealing with the largest field out of any of the day's races with a full 16 entrants. Look for Frontier Spirit emerging out of the Twiston-Davies yard to get things back together after coming in a beaten favourite last time out. He was just mugged on the line right at the tail end of a rather impressive run at a level quite similar to this at Ffos Las.

Frontier Spirit won't be making the pace but will be expected to be near it and he'll also be carrying about 4 lbs less this time out. It's tough to single this race so we'll also be adding Alan King's Bless The Wings, who also comes in off a second place finish. He was beaten a full six lengths by the respectable Our Mick at Kempton on Boxing Day and has been freshened nicely with a month on the sidelines. He has looked almost a different horse in his two efforts this year and has been showing himself adept at the novice circuit.

Charminster emerges from the beginners' chase circuit with an impressive record but he will really have to step up his game if he's going to tackle accomplished novices who have won races. The manner of some of his victories should be enough to acquit himself a worthy addition to the ticket.

The Group 3 Murphy Group Chase is the next one up at 2:05 and there are a few names here who jump right off the page. Many boast the course & distance reference in this contest but Tamarinbleu and Poquelin look to have the measure of this crowd. Tartak deserves some respect but just hasn't won in a while. Poquelin comes in as top weight and carries a large penalty of 7 lbs over the nearest competitor and is still winless this year – you reckon he'll be able to get the job done here despite the weighting if he runs to potential. Tamarinbleu on the other hand carries a mere 10-8 (as opposed to Poquelin's 11-12) and enters the race fresh off a score at Haydock over a field of seven. David Pipe will have him looking sharp today and he'll be one with an eye towards March – likely at course and distance.

We're switching over to Doncaster for the 2:20 with a 2m3f110y contest and this is one of the tougher races – a much more blue collar event than some of the others. Corkage and Ascendant look to be the key choices but we'll be avoiding Ascendant based on his tough weight assignment. He did win his last two but was carrying less than 11 stone. Corkage should be able to capitalize on a small-ish field and this versatile contender may be able to deploy some of his trademark speed. He runs over both hurdles and proper fences, winning at both, so expect him to offer up plenty of excitement on the run-in.