Southfield Stone looks like a solid bet for Kempton success

Conditions have dried up just in time for Southfield Stone in the Close Brothers Handicap Chase at Kempton today.

Trained by Paul Nicholls, the eight-year-old certainly has more to offer over fences than we have had chance to see to date.

He simply must have good ground to be seen at his best, as he showed when beating the talented Angels Breath in the Dovecote Novices' Hurdle at this meeting two years ago.

Flat tracks definitely suit him best too, which was why, despite winning that Grade Two, Nicholls did not even send him to Cheltenham that year, instead waiting for Aintree where soft ground scuppered him.

As he did not win his first novice chase until February last season having had the misfortune of bumping into some smart recruits, he was still eligible for a novice in October, when he beat the subsequent Paddy Power Gold Cup winner Coole Cody.

He has subsequently been put in his place by Protektorat, although there was no disgrace in that considering he was giving him weight, and then bogged down in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup won by Chatham Street Lad. That run though, along with his effort in Grade One company at Aintree, are the only times he has been out of the frame in 17 starts and his consistency must be admired.

It is not hard to make a case for him as he is trained by a master, has his ground, loves the track and arrives having won a jumpers' bumper most recently, beating the smart Didtheyleaveuoutto.

Alan King's Tritonic should book his place in the Triumph Hurdle with a victory in the Close Brothers Adonis Juvenile

Hurdle. A smart performer on the level, he was made to work hard to win on his hurdling debut at Ascot but, if anything, that just showed him in a better light. The ground was softer than he likes and the runner-up was gifted a big early lead, but Tritonic dug deep to win. He may end up being the leading British four-yearold after this.

The ground will be much more testing at Newcastle, which will mean the trip of over four miles and a furlong will really take some getting in the Vertem Eider Handicap Chase. That should not matter to The Dutchman, though, who could just prove the class act.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has urged his players to “aim for the stars” as they bid to take the club into the last eight of European competition for the first time in 13 years.

The Ibrox club have been drawn against Czech champions Slavia Prague in the last 16 of the Europa League after completing a memorable 9-5 aggregate win over Royal Antwerp in the round of 32 on Thursday night.

It’s the second successive season Gerrard has guided his squad to this stage of the competition, where they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Bayer Leverkusen last year. Rangers have not progressed beyond the last 16 in Europe since the 2007-08 campaign when they went all the way to the Uefa Cup final under Walter Smith.

Gerrard believes that the opportunity is there for the runaway Premiership leaders to extend their current Europa League run into the quarterfinals and perhaps even further.

“We want to try and keep being ambitious and keep aiming for the stars and go one step further, or maybe two,” said Gerrard. “Who knows?

“It is a really exciting time to be connected to this club and we have worked so hard to put ourselves in this position.

“We have achieved something big and special by getting to the last 16 and matching last year.

“We have got a group of people here that want to capitalise on the opportunity that we have got. I have got every confidence and belief that we can go and do that.”

Slavia Prague, who beat Leicester City 2-0 on aggregate in the last 32, will be at home in the first leg on 11 March, with the return fixture at Ibrox seven days later.

"I am excited and satisfied with the draw,” said Slavia coach Jindrich Trpisovsky. “Rangers are coached by a former great player and a great coach in Steven Gerrard who I have always admired.

“In addition they have a beautiful stadium.

"I said that I wanted us to draw another British team after beating Leicester City on Thursday. We haven't been to Scotland yet, so I'm extremely satisfied.”