Barton, Tim Easterby's star jumper, returns to action tomorrow, but is in danger of being upstaged by another North Yorkshire horse with Cheltenham Gold Cup pretensions.

Hussard Collonges will also be in the line-up for the £60,000 Bet Direct Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock and, eith two rock-solid efforts under his belt this season, is my Nap selection to make it third-time-lucky in this prestigious three-miles race.

Trained by Peter Beaumont, at Brandsby, near Easingwold, Hussard Collonges won the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last season, belying his 20-1 odds by scoring decisively.

Hussard Collonges has since then finishing second to Marlborough in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby and was an excellent fifth under a big weight in Newbury's hotly-contested Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup.

A high-class performer still on the upgrade, Hussard Collonges, with regular rider Russ Garritty on board, looks sure to prove difficult to beat tomorrow and I fancy he will spoil Barton's comeback.

A top-flight hurdler before winning five of his seven races over fences last season, Barton suffered a foot problem in the autumn, which seriously threatened his participation this term.

He has, however, made a quicker-than-anticipated recovery and his comeback outing warrants very close attention.

Although a horse who has in the past run well when fresh, it would be asking a lot of Barton to win tomorrow's classy race without the advantage of a previous outing. I expect Barton to make a bold bid, but on this occasion Hussard Collonges gets my vote.

Also worth watching out for on a super card at Haydock are the front-running Deano's Beeno (1.10) and the unbeaten The Bajan Bandit (2.45).

The Tote Exacta Handicap Chase is the feature race at Kempton tomorrow and I think Dark'n Sharp is likely to be involved in the finish.

Trained by the in-form Richard Phillips, the gelding improved by leaps and bounds last term and, although an early casualty, after slipping on landing on his latest run at Ascot, he deserves respect.

In the Tote Scoop6 Lanzarote Hurdle, make a note of Bound, trained by Newmarket-based Lucy Wadham, after his narrow defeat at Cheltenham last time.

Channel 4 television coverage tomorrow includes two races from Catterick. Look out for the Tim Easterby pair Woodfield Gale (1.05) and Silver Knight (3.05).

Saturday's tips:

Catterick

12.35 Dark Victor, 1.05 Woodfield Gale, 1.35 Dix Bay, 2.05 Teme Valley, 2.35 Kind Sir, 3.05 Silver Knight, 3.40 Caymen Went.

Haydock

12.40 The Phair Crier, 1.10 Deano's Beeno, 1.40 Hussard Collonges (Nap), 2.10 Flame Creek, 2.45 The Bajan Bandit, 3.20 Tribal Venture, 3.50 Cloudy Grey.

Kempton

12.20 Hersov, 12.50 Epervier d'Or, 1.20 Bal de Nuit, 1.50 Far Horizon, 2.25 Dark'n Sharp, 3.00 Bound, 3.35 Carrick Troop, 4.05 Lord Sam.

Saturday's other race meetings are at Wincanton (National Hunt), Lingfield (Falt) and Wolverhampton (Flat).

Updated: 13:35 Friday, January 17, 2003