Nigel Twiston-Davies’ William Hill blog: The Hollow Ginge in better form this time around

We certainly need a bit more rain before we start making any firmer plans for a number of horses in the yard.

Guard Your Dreams ran well in what looked a hot Coral Hurdle. He’s come out of the race fine and something like the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham could be the one for him.

As for Bristol De Mai, we’ll just keep him back until the rain comes. It seems he needs softer ground these days a bit more than he used to.

Stream Of Stars proved he’s quite a smart horse at Ludlow on Wednesday. He’s done everything really well ever since he arrived from John Gosden’s and something like the Betfair Hurdle could well be on his agenda later in the season.

Weekend runners

Looking at this weekend and we’ve got a very strong team out across the country.

Topofthecotswolds runs in the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Memorial Handicap Chase (1:15pm).

He ran well on his reappearance and is definitely one who will appreciate the good ground, that’s pretty important for him.

It looks a hot race, but he’s got every chance.

Earlofthecotswolds then runs in the 2m4f handicap hurdle (1:50pm).

He’s in good form at the moment so we’re turning him out just two weeks after his last run at Wetherby.

He’ll have to take another step forward given he’s gone up in the weights, but we’re pretty hopeful.

Good Boy Bobby is up at Newcastle for the Listed Rehearsal Handicap Chase (2:05pm).

He won a good race from the front last time and should appreciate the extra distance here.

It’s a valuable race that looks well suited to him, while there’s every chance he could go on to compete in a higher grade than this later in the season.

Gowel Road steps back in trip for the Listed Intermediate Hurdle (2:25pm).

It’s not the ideal race and he’s probably better over a bit further, but the prize money is good and we thought it was definitely worth a crack.

He ran very well over 2m at Newbury twice last season so there’s no reason why he can’t do so again. A little bit of rain would be nice to help slow his rivals down a bit.

The Hollow Ginge returns for another go at the Ladbrokes Trophy (3.00pm), a race he was fourth in last season.

He’s 2lbs lower in the handicap and arrives there in better form this year, so you’d like to think he’s got a very good chance.

The ground was on the fast side last year so that’s not a big concern, but a drop of rain certainly wouldn’t harm his chances.

We’ll look at the Welsh National after this too.

Though there’s not much correlation in the Irish form to ours, so it’s hard to know if they’ve got the handicapping right. You’ve got to respect their runners.

And a quick mention for Zambella, who runs in the Listed Mares’ Chase (3:00pm) at Carlisle on Sunday.

She was beginning to stay on nicely in the Mares’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival before falling and has been fine since.

She’s been doing everything nicely at home and rarely lets us down, so fingers crossed.

Yet again, it looks as though the Irish could put up a big challenge, though!