Arkle hope Al Dancer out to enhance lofty reputation in Wayward Lad

1.20 Kempton
Ladbrokes Wayward Lad Novices' Chase (Grade 2) | 2m | 4yo+ | ITV4/RTV

Can Al Dancer lay down his Arkle credentials?

The Wayward Lad has unearthed chasing superstars in recent seasons, with Sprinter Sacre, Altior and Cyrname featuring among previous winners of this Grade 2 novice event in the last decade. Al Dancer has been touted as a top prospect in his own right and he looks to join this race's impressive roll of honour.

The six-year-old has turned a corner since his disappointing tenth in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle last season with two fine runs over fences. He won stylishly on his chasing debut at Cheltenham in October, before finishing a good second at that venue a month later.

A winner of the Betfair Hurdle in February, Al Dancer is a general 16-1 chance for the Racing Post Arkle as he looks to continue an excellent start to his chasing career.

Twiston-Davies said: "He's done nothing wrong over fences and the form of his win [at Cheltenham] in October is great. It looks a strong race, which is good, but we're happy with him and looking forward to it."

Will it be five for Fanion?

Fanion D'Estruval went into plenty of notebooks following his easy debut success in Britain, and trainer Venetia Williams is relishing testing him at Graded level.

The four-year-old notched up a quickfire hat-trick in France before dismantling a mark of 137 when scoring in a novice handicap at Newbury.

Fanion D'Estruval: won by six lengths at Newbury on his first start in BritainCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Williams said: "It's a big step up in class so we'll know more a bit more about him. The form of his last race hasn't worked out as we hoped but I thought he performed very well that day.

"We're excited to see how he handles this kind of race. He has form on softer ground in France so it should be fine for him."

What they say

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Grand Sancy
He won't mind the ground getting softer. He put in a good run on his first start over fences and is bound to have improved for that.

Harry Whittington, trainer of Rouge Vif
He's been in good form since his last run, and he ran very well at the track in a novice hurdle last season. He's a lot more settled at home so we've taken the hood off and he's had a small tweak to his wind. We're hoping he'll improve from his last run and if he can I think he can run a big race.

Ben Pauling, trainer of Global Citizen
He's going there in very good form and he's suited to Kempton. We've had a few hold-ups this season at the yard so we haven't had the experience [over fences] under his belt that we would've liked, but we're going to throw him into the deep end. He was very good over hurdles so if he can produce that form over fences then he's got a great shout. I firmly believe he can run a big race.

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