Friday's ITV racing includes action from the first day of Chepstow's big jumps season curtain-raiser and Keith Melrose from the Racing Post provides his best bets on the card.

Keith Melrose's tips:

1.35 Chepstow - Aye Right @ 5/1

3.23 Chepstow - Ioupy Collonges @ 4/1

4.33 Chepstow - Platinumcard @ 25/1

1.35 Chepstow - Aye Right @ 5/1

It remains a solid angle, albeit not as strong as it used to be, to side with those arriving in veterans' handicap chases from open-age events. Nowadays the veterans' events are competitive enough to have closed the gap somewhat, although when you have been running in the races Aye Right has the axiom still holds.

After finishing his 2021/22 campaign in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Aye Right ran last season at in races won by Sounds Russian, L'homme Presse, Into Overdrive and Shishkin. He generally was not disgraced and has come down in the weights for his trouble.

Now he takes his first steps into veterans' company. This is a long way to travel from Jedburgh, especially given Kelso was on last Sunday, so this is likely to be a full-blooded reappearance unless the aim is to just get him qualified for the final. 

In the expectation that it is the former, Aye Right's game front-running style ought to be just right for Chepstow.

Keith Melrose's tip:

Aye Right @ 5/1 - 1pt win

3.23 Chepstow - Ioupy Collonges @ 4/1

My favourite races of the year are the novices' handicap chases in the second half of the autumn. A handful habitually turn out to be red-hot form and getting onto the right ones early comes with bigger rewards than just backing a few winners. There are no guarantees to where the good ones will pop up, but this race is a pretty good candidate.

Pounding Poet, Chianti Classico and Inch House are all promising sorts for fences. My preference is narrowly for Ioupy Collonges, who has the right sort of experience to this point that can give him the edge on the day.

Ioupy Collonges won a novice hurdle here in February, showing that he can handle Chepstow's undulations. He finished the season with two good runs in handicaps, winning the second at Exeter having come clear with a horse who finished second again off his revised mark next time.

For this first run over fences, Ioupy Collonges also has the sort of background you want. He has run in point-to-points, placing on both runs. He is also trained by Paul Nicholls, whose skill in turning admirable hurdlers into classy chasers needs no embellishment. 

Even if a couple higher up the weights turn into better long-term prospects, in the here and now Ioupy Collonges can have the edge.

Keith Melrose's tip:

Ioupy Collonges @ 4/1 - 1pt win

4.33 Chepstow - Platinumcard @ 25/1

The veterans' chase on this card used to be sponsored by Professor Caroline Tidsall and back then it was typical for her, or her main trainer David Pipe, to target the race. Now she sponsors this veterans' handicap hurdle and the Pipe runner, Platinumcard, really catches the eye.

This horse has an unusual background. He started in bumpers and over hurdles, then switched to the Flat in 2021 and had a fine season which ended with a Racing Post Rating of 104 and a second-placed finish at York behind Bay Bridge. 

He then went to Gordon Elliott, for whom he did not really catch light as a hurdler but he did win at last year's Scottish National meeting. 

His first winter with Pipe was a bit of a write-off, but there were spots of promise and his mark has dropped right down to 106. Now freshened up, dropped to two-miles and racing in autumn, he has everything in his favour. It is fairly likely that this early-season target has been carefully chosen.

Keith Melrose's tip:

Platinumcard @ 25/1 - 1pt win

Keith Melrose's tips:

1.35 Chepstow - Aye Right @ 5/1

3.23 Chepstow - Ioupy Collonges @ 4/1

4.33 Chepstow - Platinumcard @ 25/1

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.