Welcome to our latest column from Scott Armstrong of The Sportsman tipster service.

Each Friday, Scott provides us with a rundown of all the best weekend racing action – including the key  horses to follow and those to oppose. You can also find a recap from him each Monday on the SBC Blog with his reaction to the weekend’s events. Thorough, frank and not afraid to take a contrary view, Scott Armstrong is a racing man whose opinion you can’t afford to be without.

The £200,000 Betfair Chase is the feature race of a superb Saturday’s racing with this year’s renewal being well up to scratch hosting four of the first seven in the betting for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

There can be little argument that the best horse coming into the race is the 5-6 favourite Long Run. Nicky Henderson’s stable star is officially rated a mammoth 182 and has 11lb in hand, despite opposing four formidable rivals in a field of six. Still a youngster he has achieved so much already, dismantling the Cheltenham Gold Cup field by seven lengths, breaking the course record in the process and becoming the first six-year-old to win the race since Mill House in 1963. Continue reading →