'He's done plenty of work' - Listed winner Madara has first start for Keiran Burke after stable switch

This race is always a hotly contested affair and the classy Master Chewy, who was beaten just a head in the Grade 1 Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree in April, heads the weights for in-form trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies.

Keiran Burke has an exciting new recruit in the shape of Madara, who was progressive for Sophie Leech last season when his wins included a Listed success at the Dublin Racing Festival.

The five-year-old holds an entry in the Paddy Power Gold Cup in two weeks' time – for which he is best-priced 20-1 – and Burke is aiming to improve his chances of success at Cheltenham by getting a run into him at Ascot.

"We're very happy to have him in the yard," said Burke. "He's been good since he got here and has done plenty of work.

"This will be a good pipe-opener for the season and it's nice to get a run into him before the Paddy Power. We'll take it step by step as we're still getting to know him, but this run should teach us a lot."

What they say

Nigel Twiston-Davies, trainer of Master Chewy
He seems really good and has come through the summer well. He's out of novice company now and I'm hoping he can step up. He carries top weight but I think he's on a workable mark.

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Matterhorn
He rapidly became the star of our summer jumpers and was in the form of his life, winning four novice handicaps over fences on the bounce before failing to recover from a bad mistake early on at Newton Abbot. He worked great on Thursday morning but his mark of 147 looks huge for what he achieved in the summer and he's been on the go for a long time. He's very fresh and will be going on holiday once the ground turns soft.

Venetia Williams, trainer of Martator
He had a good season as a novice but this is always a competitive race. It's a shame after all the rain for the past few months that the ground is drying up a bit now, but he's a small horse and can probably handle this sort of going. This is his first step into strong open company and it'll be interesting to see how he goes.

Dan Skelton, trainer of Frere D'Armes
He has an each-way chance. He ran nicely the other day and was second in a race like this last year. He has no weight and Heidi Palin has ridden him before.

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