PNicholls

Here's my views on our first runner on day one of the Festival:

Al Ferof - The Supreme 13:30

Could well be the forgotten horse of the race. Obviously, this is a very competitive and high class renewal though; I said recently that if I could train any horse from another yard it would be Cue Card (he beat Al Ferof by eight lengths in the bumper last season) and any horse that can give 12lb and a 21 length beating to Cedre Bleu, as Spirit Son did at Exeter, has to be feared. But Al Ferof has really pleased me, we have brought him on steadily and he did his best bit of work for a long time on Saturday. I thought: "Wow, you are right!"

I think we all feared the worst when he took a crashing fall on his hurdling debut at Cheltenham in December and we rode him to get his confidence back when third to Backspin and Court In Motion at Newbury next time. Has since recorded bloodless victories at odds of 1-7 and 1-4 at Taunton and Newbury, but could just surprise a few people here.

Of the remainder, I'm not surprised that Barry Geraghty has chosen Spirit Son over Sprinter Sacre; I trained Polisky to finish second to Sprinter Sacre and I think Spirit Son's form is far stronger. But I would expect Al Ferof to do to Cedre Bleu and Polisky what Nicky's horses did.

To read Paul's preview of his other runners today, including his best three chances, go to http://betting.betfair.com/horse-racing/paul-nicholls/