Newbury Placepot picks: Paul Kealy kicks off with two early bankers

There's plenty of competitive action now the ground is soft at Newbury and the last three Placepot races will likely take some getting through.

In the opener (12.15), is arguably better judged on her soft-ground fourth to Soaring Glory than her good-ground fourth at odds-on next time, and as she's now 3lb lower than her penultimate run she has to go in.

In the next (12.50), 2019 Dante third Surfman is a fascinating contender for Nicky Henderson on his first run since the 2019 Prix du Jockey Club, but is the one with hurdles form and he is much preferred for the perm. He has easily the best hurdles and bumper form of the rest and looks bankable.

In leg three (1.25), is 6lb well-in under his penalty for beating a course specialist at Lingfield last time and is another to bank on, which gives us a bit to play with.

is a strong fancy in the next (2.00), but the hurdles switch might not work, so , whose returning second has worked out really well, is the obvious one to add.

We'd better go with three in the Mandarin (2.35) and is joined by the improving and , who will find this a lot easier than the Ladbrokes Trophy, in which he ran well enough to finish eighth.

That just leaves the seven-runner Challow Novices' Hurdle (3.05), and as it will be disappointing if Gordon Elliott can win a British Grade 1 with one of his weaker novice hurdlers, I'll focus on and , who arguably boast much better form than Gringo D'Aubrelle.