Hot To Trot: Henderson hoping for more from Hill

Jumps trainer: Nicky Henderson

The Cheltenham Festival is now less than five weeks away and Nicky Henderson is busy assembling a typically strong team. He may well struggle to match the seven winners he saddled at the meeting in 2012, but Altior, Buveur D'air, Charli Parcs and Top Notch all feature prominently in the betting for their respective targets at the Festival and Henderson will be keeping everything crossed that they stay sound in the coming weeks. There is plenty going on at Seven Barrows to keep him occupied in the meantime, however, and Josses Hill looks set to complete his own Cheltenham preparations at Ascot on Saturday. He faces a potential clash with Cue Card in the Ascot Chase and should be more at home over a shorter trip than when last of five (Cue Card second) in the King George at Kempton. Josses Hill is likely to have the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham on his agenda should he come through next weekend unscathed. Meanwhile, Verdana Blue might not be one of the star names at Henderson's disposal, but she showed herself to be a fairly useful performer when opening her account over hurdles at Hereford last time. She is entered at Fontwell on Tuesday and would appear to hold sound claims of following up for her in-form trainer. 

Flat trainer: Archie Watson

Archie Watson has really hit the ground running in his first full season with a licence and Alkashaaf provided the trainer with his fourth winner from just 15 runners in 2017 when scoring at Newcastle earlier this month. That represents a fair return for a trainer who only sent out his first runner last August and it could certainly pay to follow his burgeoning career in the coming weeks. The useful Chevallier has been a terrific servant to the yard since the start and he gained the win his consistency deserved at Lingfield in January. The five-year-old might have been slightly fortunate to beat the second (short of room and conceded first run) on that occasion, but he has now finished in the first three in all but one of his nine starts for the yard and should remain competitive from just 2 lb higher in the weights. Calvinist was a useful performer for Brian Meehan last season and could make his debut for the stable at Newcastle (Tuesday) or Wolverhampton (Wednesday) this week. He hasn't been sighted on a racecourse since winning at York in October, but remains open to more improvement after just five starts and has the potential to develop into a contender for some good staying handicaps in 2017.

Under the radar: Emma Lavelle

Emma Lavelle won over £500,000 in prize money for the first time in a jumps season in 2013/14, but she has endured a couple of torrid years since and saddled just 19 winners from 163 runners last season. The trainer has already surpassed that total this time round, though, and her career-best tally of 42 winners in a campaign could be in danger if she continues her fine form of recent weeks. Indeed, Lavelle has saddled two winners and three seconds from her last six runners, and it could certainly be worth following anything she sends out from her Wiltshire base in the near future. Water Wagtail was disappointing when pulled-up at Huntingdon last time, but he showed he can be competitive from this mark when third at Taunton in December and can be forgiven one blip in a series of otherwise consistent efforts. This quirky sort would have to enter calculations if attempting to bounce back at Towcester on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Shotgun Paddy has been a flag-bearer for the yard through even the leanest of spells and could attempt to go one better than 12 months ago in the Eider Chase at Newcastle (February 25). He ran well when third in the Classic Chase at Warwick in January and remains well-treated on pieces of old form.