25 November 2006 PREACHER CAN HAND OUT LESSON VALUE SCOPE FOR once the boring old timers ar... PREACHER CAN HAND OUT LESSON VAL

Up until the mid 1990s this was a top contest, but it has been steadily falling in class since. Last year when Trabolgan became the first to carry top-weight to success since 1984, he was running off an official handicap mark of 151, that is 15lb inferior to Couldnt Be Better who headed the card in 1996.

Cornish Rebel tops the handicap this year with a rating of 153 and, if the stats are to be believed has a mountain to climb if he is going to land the race.

Of late, seven year olds have been dominate, winning five of the last ten runnings. There have been 47 runners of that age group but had you backed them all you would only be showing a small loss.

All the last ten winners had also won a chase the previous season - so we can pencil through the David Pipe-trained Vodka Bleu who ran a cracker when runner-up in the Paddy Power a fortnight ago.

The pair clashed here at Newbury last season, Presenting Express coming out best by the tune of seven lengths, but Ron Hodges' hope has a big pull at the weights this time and, more significantly ran in Wincanton's Badger Beer Chase last time, beaten by today's rival Parsons Legacy and, on handicapping, ought to come out best of that pair.

The Badger Beer, another race whose light has been dimmed of late, has been used as a stepping stone to success in the Hennessy by Coome Hill in 1996, Teeton Mill in '98 and King's Road in 2000, so is easily the most important prep.

INGLIS DREVER headed the market when beating Baracouda last year. If you can see a pattern emerging, get on the Howard Johnston-trained runner again this afternoon for 3pt win at SP.

The Nicky Richardstrained hope, now a 12-year-old, won this contest when a 25-1 shot in 2003, and has since been fifth to Harchiblad and third to Arcalis.

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