The Punt Acca: Charlie Huggins bids to follow up 5-1 winner with three horse racing tips at Sandown and Sedgefield

Three horses to include in a multiple on Friday . . .

Fine Casting (2.25 Sandown)

Made a respectable chasing debut when second at Ffos Las last month, beating previous winner The King Of Ryhope by 60 lengths. The King Of Ryhope went on to finish third behind Colonel Harry in the Towton Novices' Chase at Wetherby while the the winner at Ffos Las, Carbon King, was also pitched into Grade 2 company on his next start. Carbon King admittedly did not frank the form when pulled up by Conor Ring but that was a strong Warwick novice contest won by leading Brown Advisory hope Grey Dawning, who beat Grade 1 heroine Apple Away and three-time Cheltenham scorer Broadway Boy. Fine Casting was therefore not disgraced when attempting to give 5lb to Carbon King and he posted another solid effort when third at Cheltenham on New Year's Day. The runner-up, Matata, was beaten half a length by JPR One, in a Grade 2 at Lingfield last Sunday. JPR One was third in the Henry VII Novices' Chase on his previous start and Fine Casting also beat the fourth from that Grade 1, Petit Tonnerre, by a length and a half last time. The return to the same track and a similar trip as when he was fourth in last season's 16-runner Imperial Cup should suit Ben Pauling's eight-year-old, who looks to have a nice weight.

Barrichello (2.45 Sedgefield)

Has failed to recapture the form of his novice hurdle season in 2021-22 when his four victories included a Listed success at Haydock as well as giving 6lb and a beating to the now 139-rated Good Risk At All in a Warwick handicap. Barrichello was unlucky to bump into some decent types when going over fences as he finished third behind Thunder Rock, who is now rated 11lb higher, on his chasing debut at Uttoxeter before having the impossible task of attempting to give 13lb to subsequent Grade 1 and Paddy Power Gold Cup runner-up Notlongtillmay at Musselburgh in January last year. Barrichello is now rated 12lb lower than when eighth in a 15-runner handicap hurdle over 2m1f at Cheltenham on last season's Trials day and faces a much more straightforward assignment here. The Donald McCain-trained eight-year-old was travelling well in a 2m4f event at this track in October before weakening approaching the last so the drop back to 2m1f should suit. Wind surgery should also help as he won by 25 lengths on his first run back from the last time he had that operation at Bangor in November 2021.

East India Express (3.35 Sandown)

Comfortable winner of a Kempton bumper that has worked out well with the second, fifth and seventh all winning since. The Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old returned to the same track to make a successful hurdling debut in November in a novice hurdle that has again been franked. East India Express beat Billy Boi Blue by five lengths and the runner-up went one better on his next start to land a Hereford maiden hurdle by five and a half lengths. The third, Monks Meadow, filled the same position behind Welcom To Cartries, who is favourite for a Grade 2 at Doncaster on Saturday, on his next start while the fifth was also subsequently second in a 13-runner maiden event. East India Express had a difficult task taking on a Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 favourite in Gidleigh Park on soft ground at Newbury last time. The return to a right-handed track on a quicker surface should suit East India Express, who looks potentially well treated off a mark of 123 on his handicap debut.

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