Horse racing tips for Friday: Dave Nevison's best bets

Dave Nevison has been among the winners this week and shares his best bets for Friday's action.

This might well be the time to catch Fire Dancer who won on his first start for the Venetia Williams yard last season before proving very disappointing in two subsequent efforts.

He looked miserable on his latest start at Ludlow (where he won previously) but has had another wind operation since and returns a fresh horse here.

He is only 4lb higher than his victory last season and I doubt whether that increase will stop him, if he is back to his.

The handicap mark isn’t the point here, it's more the form of Venetia Williams who excels with these ex-French types, especially in their second season in her yard.

This four-year-old is related to very good bumper winners, so it was perhaps surprising he was sent jumping on his first start last year.

He fell on that occasion and had jumping issues throughout last season, but he looked to have got that sorted on his reappearance over course and distance until he landed awkwardly two out, and couldn’t make up the ground he lost.

Just Over Land is still only a youngster and I think could still develop into a useful handicapper. Hopefully, he will have come on for his recent run and can exploit a rating of 100 here.

The Sam Thomas yard is generally in very good form, and Sam Twiston-Davies has been riding a few for the team recently.

I am not the first who has been sucked in to backing Tea Clipper and got burnt fingers as a result. There is no doubt that Tom Lacey’s chaser has sometimes promised more than he has ultimately delivered in a race, but he has no excuses here, and will be crossed off the list if he can’t win this.

Last October he jumped and ran really well in a 13-runner Class 1 handicap over course and distance off a rating of 145, and races off a 9lb lower mark here.

He ran well off this rating on his reappearance at Chepstow in October and has run his best races before Christmas for the past three seasons, so if he improves a little from his first run of the season, he should be able to finally take advantage of his mark.

Trainer Tom Lacey had had three winners from his past seven runners, too, so the yard is in very good form.