Dave Nevison top tips: best bets for Wednesday's action

The Lucinda Russell stable is as much an academy of young jockeys as horses nowadays and Connor McCann represents the latest in a growing number of riders the yard is producing.

McCann claims 7lb here and has already been trusted on more than a few of the yards fancied runners, including when when winning on Jem Em In over course and distance in late October.

The five-year-old has always looked a stayer, since McCann won on him on his debut under Rules at Perth last autumn, where he stayed on best to win in tenacious fashion.

Jem Em In has not had many runs over hurdles and has more upside than his rivals in this event.

Nick Alexander has his stable in good form here and may have a very well handicapped young stayer on his hands in Beat The Retreat.

This four-year-old was always outpaced before staying on in his hurdle runs last season but goes up 6f in trip here, which is needed.

He is out of a Hernando mare, who won a hurdle off a mark of 110 and stayed well, so his mark of 90 looks interesting on pedigree.

The horse who finished half a length in front of Beat The Retreat when he was fourth in a novice here has since won a handicap off 90. That also augurs well and there should be plenty of improvement over this trip.

The final piece in the jigsaw is that he’s had a wind operation, which I hope can only be a positive. Bruce Lynn claims 3lbs and he’s been on board for his four previous runs.

Is far from reliable but a look back at his record suggests this might well be the time to catch him.

Paseo ran a decent race when he first appeared for the Venetia Williams and then last season he won after a six-month gap - looking like he had turned a corner only to become a disappointment.

He is only 2lb higher than for that win and is well weighted off 91, especially when you consider he’s run off 128 over hurdles in the past.

However, it’s his 196-day absence that interests me most, especially with the stable in such hot form. The fact he is owned by the Hereford Racing Club suggests he will have been readied for this seasonal debut.