David Jennings and Johnny Dineen, from the Racing Post’s popular YouTube show Upping The Ante, chew over the

Our latest series of Upping The Ante returns on November 8 with legendary punter Johnny Dineen joining David Jennings at the helm. Johnny is a former racecourse bookmaker who stood at the Cheltenham Festival but is even better known within the industry as a feared gambler himself. He will bring a lifetime of punting experience to the revamped show, not to mention the requisite passion for those four days in the Cotswolds in March, and he will also write a column that you can read every Saturday in the Racing Post.

How on earth are Constitution Hill and Galopin Des Champs shorter than Honeysuckle and A Plus Tard at Cheltenham? Will people ever learn – absolutely mad!

Johnny Dineen I suppose people are favouring undoubted potential over already-proven ability. The fact that both of last season’s winners are both rising years of age will give followers of the new brigade hope that they can usurp last year’s champions. Honeysuckle is possibly the most vulnerable of the two.

David Jennings It’s because they were no ordinary novices. Constitution Hill is already rated 5lb superior to Honeysuckle despite the fact he has yet to step out of novice company. He was the most impressive Supreme winner I’ve seen, even allowing for the fact the race set up perfectly for him. As for Galopin Des Champs, he received the highest Racing Post Rating of

the modernera for a chasing debutant at Leopardstown last season, even higher than Altior, and he looks special.

How do you see the two-mile division shaping up? Can Ferny Hollow mix it with Shishkin and Energumene?

JD Energumene is the solid horse, without a shadow of a doubt. The fact Ferny Hollow has missed two festivals in a row due to injury makes him a risky ante-post proposition and Shishkin has plenty to prove after running an unfathomable stinker in last year’s Champion Chase.

DJ You’d have to have serious question marks about Shishkin now.

I knew it wasn’t the ground that beat him in March and the “rare bone condition” which kept him sidelined after March worries me. I know Paul Townend couldn’t believe Shishkin went by him at

Ascot and, like Johnny, I believe Energumene is the most likely Champion Chase winner. He proved his versatility in March by coming from off the pace. He looks the finished article now.

Would you send Bob Olinger back over hurdles and aim for the Stayers’?

JD To me, and I’m no vet, Bob Olinger had some sort of physical issue at the end of last season. His jumping over fences wouldn’t be an issue for me but the fact that he cut out so quickly in his last two runs certainly is. I wouldn’t be keen to back him again under either discipline.

DJ It was the fourth-last in the

Turners that changed the complexion of Bob Olinger’s campaign and, indeed, his career. I thought he had jumped fine until then, not as gloriously as Galopin Des Champs but fine nonetheless. He clattered four out and it was Goodnight, Irene. He hasn’t been right since. I can see the argument for going back over hurdles. That’s not a bad shout at all.

What race at the festival are you looking forward to the most?

JD I have a soft spot for the Supreme and the Arkle, the future stars going helter-skelter over the minimum trip over both hurdles and fences rarely, if ever, produce anti-climatic results. Both contests really give the festival a tremendous platform on which to start the four days.

DJ Ah, Johnny, come on. That’s nonsense. I love those two races as well but there is only one answer to this question and that answer is Constitution Hill v Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle. Throw in Vauban and State Man and it could be a vintage edition.

Give us three novice hurdlers and three novice chasers to follow for the season

JD In the novice-chasing department I’ll go for Sir Gerhard, The Nice Guy and Three Stripe Life, who might excel over the intermediate distance. As for the novice hurdlers, I will nominate Authorised Speed from the Gary Moore stable and two unexposed ones – Jet Powered and Parmenion.

DJ Firestep was my horse to follow for the season on this very page last year and he never appeared. I loved the look of him when I visited Seven Barrows last season and the way he powered through a Chepstow bumper was very easy on the eye. He could be anything. American Mike might not be as good as Facile Vega but he could be better than everything else.

James’s Gate is my third choice. Forget his below-par Punchestown run. My three novice chasers to follow are Fil Dor with the four-year-old allowance, Gerri Colombe and Bear Ghylls.

Which horse are you most looking forward to seeing this season?

JD Like so many others I’m looking forward to seeing Facile Vega. He will probably go to the Lawlor’s of Naas Novice Hurdle in early January if he’s going to go for the Ballymore. Or, if he is going to head for the Supreme, you’ll probably see him at Leopardstown once or twice.

DJ Apart from the obvious ones like Constitution Hill and Galopin Des Champs, I’m excited about Zanahiyr as a staying hurdler. He had the class to finish third in a Champion Hurdle and I’m not sure the Aintree Hurdle was a done deal when he departed. All he seems to do is jump and gallop and he looks a stayer to me. He’s a serious danger to the hat-trickseeking Flooring Porter in the Stayers’ Hurdle. He’s 20-1 for that, which is twice as big as it should be.

‘Gericault Roque ran a stormer in the Ultima and his jumping would be an asset in something like the Welsh National’ Johnny Dineen

‘I’m excited about Zanahiyr as a staying hurdler. All he seems to do is jump and gallop and he looks a stayer to me’ David Jennings

Give us some handicappers to follow this season . . .

JD Handicaps are not really my forte, but I will give you a couple. Gericault Roque ran a stormer in last season’s Ultima and his solid jumping would be an asset in something like the Welsh National. Hollow Games has the ability to win a big handicap either over hurdles or even over fences.

DJ Broomfield Burg must be a seriously well-handicapped horse to do what he did in the Silver Trophy. I’m a massive Jonjo O’Neill jnr fan but I’d say he’d love to have that ride again. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong and he was still beaten only three lengths. Off a mark of 130 he’s going to take some stopping in the Greatwood. He’s 20-1 for that. And Hartur D’Oudairies off 117 in something like the Gerry Fielden at Newbury? Yes, please.

Who is on your Grand National radar at this stage?

JD To be perfectly honest, I haven’t had a bet in the Grand National in 20 years and I’m intending on making that 21 this year. Capodanno isa horse I have a lot of respect for and I could see him being very competitive in races like the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury or possibly even the Grand National.

DJ Stattler at 25-1. He impressed me with the way he powered up the hill in the National Hunt Chase to beat a thorough stayer in Run Wild Fred. He’s not good enough to win a Gold Cup and it wouldn’t surprise me if Aintree was the aim.