Silver Concorde can get new year off to a flyer at Musselburgh

Silver Concorde is one of the class acts on parade at Musselburgh’s New Year’s Day meeting.

The winner of the 2014 Champion Bumper at Cheltenham when he was with Dermot Weld, he faces six rivals in the Totepool Hogmaneigh Handicap Hurdle.

He changed hands for €33,000 at the sales last autumn and has won both starts at the East Lothian venue since joining Keith Dalgleish, pictured.

His current owner is Richard Gilbert of Straightline Construction, who said: “Keith has done a fantastic job with him as he hasn’t had him too long. We were basically trying to get his confidence back as he had probably gone a bit sour.

“This is a much better race for him than the two he won but we know he handles the track well. It’s possible we may think about handicaps at Cheltenham or Aintree later on.”

One of Silver Concorde’s opponents is Jim Goldie’s Sir Chauvelin who has enjoyed an excellent year on the Flat and returns to the scene of his two wins over hurdles.

Upsilon Bleu should give punters a dash for their dough in the “Auld Reekie” Handicap Chase. Pauline Robson’s game old boy has once again been in fine fettle this season and was not far off the main players in a super-strong renewal of the Shawbrook Handicap at Ascot last time. Upsilon Bleu has won before off a mark of 142 and should be trained to the minute in his quest to go one place better in this race than 12 months ago.

The meeting also features the 149th renewal of the historic New Year Sprint for professional athletes with a £4,000 first prize up for grabs.

At Cheltenham, Willoughby Court can begin the new year with a bang by winning the Dipper Novices’ Chase. Ben Pauling’s inmate made boundless progress at Newbury last time out and looks to have an awful lot going for him in this Grade Two over an extended two and a half miles.

Having won the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival last season, much was expected of him on his chasing debut at Huntingdon in early November.

He won that day, but most certainly did not impress everyone, having shown a worrying tendency to jump markedly to his left.

Little wonder, then, that there were plenty of punters perfectly willing to take him on in a Grade Two at Newbury. His critics had miscalculated the situation, though, as Willoughby Court was revitalised back on a left-handed track and jumped neatly to account for Yanworth by three lengths. That was a lovely effort and one which left the impression that there is still a heck of a lot remaining beneath his bonnet.

Willoughby Court must give weight to the entire field in the Dipper but he is strong enough and good enough to overcome that particular burden. He is also a proven soft-ground winner, so the recent wintry spell is unlikely to knock him too severely off his stride.

Old Guard loves it at Cheltenham and can cut loose in the other Grade Two on the card, the Relkeel Hurdle.

The likeable gelding was a bit outpaced in the International Hurdle at this track on December 16, but he was not beaten far by the likes of My Tent Or Yours and The New One. He was also doing his best work late in the piece, so it makes sense for Paul Nicholls to step him back up in trip to two and a half miles. Old Guard rarely lets the side down and should not do so here.