Bryan Cooper: His potential may have gone under the radar

There is an excellent card at Navan on Sunday and I fully expect Le Martalin to win the Grade 3 novice hurdle at 1.10pm.

He was free and didn’t jump too well at Galway, so to do what he did there was the sign of a very useful horse.

Wakea has an official rating of 143 but I think that flatters him a bit. He was undoubtedly impressive at Down Royal last time but I remember beating him on Balzac Turgot at Limerick in May and I think Le Martalin is a lot better than the winner.

Labaik has a massive engine but his own ideas about the game and Mick Jazz did it well at Clonmel, so it is a competitive little race, I suppose.

In the Grade 2 hurdle at 1.45pm, I think Jer’s Girl will take all the beating. I think our Dedigout ideally wants 3m on heavy ground, and I would expect him to improve for the run, too. But he does have plenty of form at this trip, and indeed he won this race in 2013, so you definitely can’t rule him out.

Wolfslair has gone up 12lb for his recent win so he obviously has a harder task in the handicap hurdle at 2.20pm, while we run Tell Us More and The Game Changer in the Fortria Chase over 2m at 2.50pm.

I’d say that Ruby will look to play it from the front on Ballycasey over this trip and he is a very dangerous man when leading in a tactical race.

Gilgamboa will surely find this 2m trip on the sharp ride for him, and we have two fair chances. Tell Us More beat his stablemate at Naas last time and he probably is just about the pick of the pair, though Ballycasey is the one we all have to beat, even stepping back to the minimum trip.

Tycoon Prince is a horse that I have a lot of respect for, and he runs in the Beginners Chase at 3.30pm.

He has had a lot of niggling problems throughout his career but he has the look of a real chaser and I think he has a massive engine.

I was travelling well on him before he made a mistake at Aintree last time, and he came back lame. I schooled him at Tipperary racecourse before I got injured, and was impressed. He has been crying out for a fence and I think his potential may have gone under the radar.

In the bumper at 4pm we run Samcro. I have sat on him a fair few times, and he is a big, massive chaser in the making with a big engine. We bought him at Aintree for a lot of money in April after he won his only point, and he has been working well.  He will improve for the run, though.