Moscow Flyer can land the spoils at Sandown

Cenkos comes alive at Sandown and should run a bold race again, while Flagship Uberalles showed he could still mix it with the very best last spring and will be fully tuned up as he bids to land the fourth Tingle Creek of his remarkable career.

However, the fact remains that Moscow Flyer and Azertyuiop have amassed a combined record of 14 wins and no losses when they have completed the course over fences. Something clearly has to give if they both get round without accidents, but the safe call has to be Moscow Flyer.

Jessica Harrington's gelding was knocked out of the contest through no fault of his own at the fifth fence in this race last year before missing out on another big prize at Punchestown in April when a blunder two out handed the BMW Chase to Flagship Uberalles.

Incidents like the one at Punchestown have led some people to suggest that Moscow Flyer's jumping is a chink in his armour. But suspect jumpers don't handle Cheltenham in the way he did last March when powering clear of Native Upmanship and Cenkos. From a tactical point of view, tomorrow's race looks relatively straightforward to assess.

Le Roi Miguel and Cenkos will probably force the issue early on. Azertyuiop, Flagship Uberalles and Seebald will track the leaders before moving into contention soon after halfway, while Barry Geraghty will probably shelve the forcing tactics he used on Moscow Flyer at Navan last month to ride a more patient race. Thirteen demanding fences and a clutch of dangerous rivals stand in his way, but Moscow Flyer looks well up to the task.

He has the sort of acceleration very few chasers can match when on song, and that could prove the deciding factor once things get tough up the hill.

Channel 4 will be banging the drum as only they can at Sandown, but it would be foolish not to set aside some time to watch the BBC coverage of an excellent John Hughes Rehearsal Chase at Chepstow.

In essence, the race revolves around whether the galloping veteran See More Business can concede six years and plenty of weight to Keen Leader and last week's early Hennessy casualty Sir Rembrandt.

He gave 20lb to all his rivals when winning this race for the third time last year, and it would be dangerous to assume that he's on the wane just because he's a little over three weeks shy of his 14th birthday.

That said, See More Business might just be up against a very good horse in Keen Leader. Jonjo O'Neill's giant gelding blotted his copybook with a laboured effort on good ground in the SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham but had looked a potential star when the mud was flying earlier in the season.

Selections - Sandown: 2.20, 1 Moscow Flyer; 2, Azertyuiop; 3 Cenkos; Chepstow: 2.10, Keen Leader.