Nosam at Hexham!

Not got much time to do a preview, as I've left it rather late in the evening and I'm off to a point-to-point at Chaddelsey Corbett tomorrow. However, if you're anywhere near Hexham - or a bookies screen showing it - be sure to cheer on that grand old campaigner NOSAM in the 2m 4.5f handicap chase. At 15 he is one of the oldest animals left in training, and his rating of 88 is fuly 22lb lower than the last one off which he won at Sedgefield 21 months ago. However, his enthusiasm for the game is uttely undiminished, and he is Richard Guest's favourite horse in the whole yard, having been responsible for sorting out his headbanging ways nearly a decade ago and being his trainer or assistant trainer ever since. The race is not great, despite the large field, and the ground should be perfect. Fingers crossed that he can reproduce the form that saw him finish fourth - beaten only one length - in a blanket finish at Fakenham two runs ago.

The likeliest winner of Guest's three runners at the Northumberland track is almost certainly BILL'S ECHO, who improved dramatically for the switch to fences last year and picked up two contests at Bangor-on-Dee. His is the best race on the card, a tight little contest between half a dozen or so animals almost level on official ratings, but he ought to be bang on for this following an encouraging return in a handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter a week last Sunday, in which he finished an in-touch fifth out of a very big field.

The other runner is DAN DE LION, back for his fourth run this season. He has not really taken to steeplechase fences the last twice, finishing out of the money on both occasions, but before that he had put in a career best effort when fourth in a bad Towcester handicap hurdle over the minimum trip. This return to timber presents him with many of those conditions once again, such as fast ground and a stiff two miles, but he still doesn't leap out particularly as a winner in waiting from the 19-strong field.