Tom Scudamore: “I am very sweet on the chances of Nordic Combined”

Coral ambassador previews Saturday’s Newbury rides

13.15 Newbury – Tiquer

He’s 4lb higher than when he won around here. You don’t see him on the track very often. His last run was when he was 4^th in the Sefton.

He is a decent ride to pick up. It’s a competitive race but he is weighted to run well.

13.50 Newbury – Nordic Combined

He is my best ride of the day. I think the step up in trip will really suit him. He hasn’t got his head in front yet but hopefully that will change today. He is very consistent and runs well in these big handicaps. I think two and a half miles will really suit him and I am very sweet on his chances.

He ran well at Exeter last time, and the time before that at Ascot. He keeps me fit when he’s raced over two miles and I can’t imagine him travelling any better over two and a half miles but that might mean he’ll be finishing a bit quicker than the others.

15.00 Newbury – Daklondike

Daklondike is a monkey, he has his moments, but he’s a very talented monkey. In an ideal world, I could have done with softer going but I don’t think it is as competitive a race as some previous years.

Normally in this race you are looking for something that might make up into a Gold Cup horse, but there doesn’t look like there’s any Denman types or that class of horse in the field. So that’s in our favour. He is very quirky and you can never be that confident in him as a result.