ANTE-POST favourite Elegant Escape headlines 23 five-day acceptors for the £250,000 Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury this Saturday, the highlight of day two of the Ladbrokes Winter Carnival.

Elegant Escape (Colin Tizzard, 11st 7lb including a 4lb penalty) is the 5/1 favourite for the prestigious handicap chase following his half-length victory over Thomas Patrick (Tom Lacey, 11st, 11/2) in the Listed Future Stars Intermediate Chase at Sandown Park on November 11.

The six-year-old took high rank among the novice chasers last season, winning the G2 Ladbrokes John Francome Novices’ Chase at the 2017 Winter Carnival before finishing third behind Presenting Percy in the G1 RSA Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer Colin Tizzard, who captured the Ladbrokes Trophy in 2016 with Native River, has also left in G2 National Hunt Chase third Sizing Tennessee (11st, 20/1) and West Approach (10st 8lb, 20/1).

Six-year-old Dingo Dollar (Alan King, 11st, 12/1) is set for his second start at Newbury this season after running well to finish fourth in the three-mile Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle on his November 8 reappearance.

Dingo Dollar is also already a winner of fences at Newbury, having bolted up by 15 lengths in a limited novices’ handicap chase, the St James’s Place Chase, at the track in December, 2017.

Paul Nicholls is looking forward to saddling Black Corton (11st 9lb, 12/1) after the seven-year-old chaser finished second, despite a bad mistake, on his reappearance in the G2 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on November 3.

Emerging jockey Bryony Frost struck up an excellent partnership with Black Corton last season and the pair combined to win the G1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, with Elegant Escape a length-and-a-half back in second.

Somerset-based Nicholls, who has won the Ladbrokes Trophy three times as a trainer with Strong Flow (2003) and Denman (2007 & 2009), and twice as a jockey, commented: “Black Corton is fine and the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury on Saturday is the plan.

“I am surprised we are such a big price compared to Elegant Escape given the close form of our race at Newbury where we gave him weight and were beaten half-a-length. We also beat him at Kempton."

Seven of the nine Irish-trained acceptors are from the stable of Willie Mullins as he goes for back-to-back victories in Britain's richest handicap chase outside of the Grand National at Aintree.

Kemboy (joint top-weight 11st 12lb including 3lb penalty) is the shortest-priced at 6/1 following his three-length victory in the G2 Clonmel Oil Chase.