SIDELINED Mark Dwyer yesterday gave new Grand National favourite Jodami a strong vote of confidence for Aintree in April. The gelding's regular jockey had to watch on television as Norman Williamson drove the 12-year-old to victory in the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock, getting the better of Unguided Missile and Avro Anson in a tight finish.

Jodami was made 12 to 1 favourite for the Grand National by Ladbrokes afterwards and Dwyer said: "The National would be very much his race and I will be very keen to ride him.

"The Aintree fences would be no problem for him and I think he would enjoy it.

"He put up a great performance yesterday, his best for a while.

"He had a very interrupted year last year and was running over a trip too far in the Irish National and the Whitbread but he ran a very good race yesterday.

"He was giving 4lb to Unguided Missile, and Avro Anson is no slouch either."

Dwyer, currently nursing a broken elbow, hopes to discover soon how much longer he will be out of action

"I don't know how long it will be before I come back because the doctors don't know," he said.

"I will see the specialist next Friday and hopefully he will say that I can start doing some physio.

I feel fine at the moment but they have said that I can't straighten the arm."

The Peter Marsh was the first race Jodami has won for a jockey other than Dwyer for five years.

Paddy Farrell was on board when the gelding collected a Grade Two novice chase at Ayr in January, 1992 but Dwyer took over for Jodami's second season over fences and has ridden him ever since.

Farrell had partnered him to all his previous victories, bar one each in a National Hunt Flat race and a hurdle when his then wife Anthea trainer Peter Beaumont's daughter now married to Sam Morshead was in the saddle.

Nigel Twiston-Davies yesterday gave handicap snip Mistinguett the green light for the Tote Gold Trophy at Newbury on February 8th.

The trainer had initially been reluctant to aim for the £100,000 contest with his front-runner, who scored by four lengths and 11 from Dato Star and Bimsey in the Bellcharm Mitsubishi Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock.

But William Hill have made the mare 5 to 1 joint-favourite (with Penny A Day) for the Newbury race, in which a 4lb penalty takes her weight up to just 10st 3lb.

And Twiston-Davies said yesterday: "She is absolutely fine today and will definitely run at Newbury. I wouldn't worry about the race coming too soon. She only has a 4lb penalty so it should be good!

"I was pleasantly surprised by how she won yesterday but I have always thought a lot of her."

Britain's biggest bookmakers yesterday played down a report that they are "artificially reducing odds on outsiders" to counter "insider dealing". Research published in the Observer suggests that punters "are losing out to the tune of nearly £600 million a year" as a result of attempts to reduce the chances of punters using "inside knowledge".

But Ian Wassell, a spokesman for Ladbrokes which has 1,815 betting shops in Britain, said: "We are very sceptical about how the story has been presented. We feel the sport is very well policed in terms of anything underhand or illegal.