The Punt Acca: Liam Headd with three horse racing tips at Leopardstown and Sandown on Saturday

Three horses to include in a treble on Saturday . . .

Hermes Allen (2.35 Sandown)

The Paul Nicholls-trained seven-year-old made an impressive start to life over fences when landing the John Francome Novices' Chase at Newbury and a similar performance would see him go close again. Hermes Allen was blown away by Il Est Francais in the Kauto Star on Boxing Day, but he still produced a strong run on his first attempt at three miles and yielded a joint-best Racing Post Rating in the process. A return to two and a half miles is an advantage for this progressive chaser, who demonstrated some top-class jumping when denying the reopposing Nickle Back with ease on his seasonal return. Hermes Allen is one of two in the field with Grade 1-winning form on his profile and he should be tough to beat.

Galopin Des Champs (3.35 Leopardstown)

It appears that Willie Mullins' star is going to be campaigned the same way he was last year, and the added bonus of course-and-distance form should see Galopin Des Champs continue on the road to Cheltenham. The eight-year-old ran out a wide-margin winner of this race 12 months ago before going on to strike in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and I can't see any of his three rivals getting close. Although he suffered a shock defeat in the John Durkan, Galopin Des Champs bounced back in scintillating fashion when recording a career-best effort to land the Savills Chase. The form of that race has since been franked as third-place finisher Capodanno landed the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham last week. Galopin Des Champs' opponents, which includes his John Durkan conqueror Fastorslow, have a lot to find on official ratings and I believe the market leader will justify favouritism again.

Grozni (3.45 Sandown)

The eight-year-old has showed significant progress since joining James Owen's yard from Ireland and I feel he is slightly being overlooked in the market for this wide-open staying contest. The trip won't be an issue for Grozni, who produced a career-best effort over fences when finishing behind Twinjets at Doncaster in December. It was his first run in handicap company and he filled the same position when half a length behind a smart Irish raider in Jackpot de Choisel at Musselburgh last time out. Grozni appears to go on any ground and this provides a good opportunity for him to get off the mark and land a nice prize for his in-form trainer. The booking of Harry Cobden is a major advantage, given the jockey is 13-45 in the past fortnight and operating at a strike-rate of 29 per cent.

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