Dave Nevison's horse racing tips: best bets for Friday

Theme Park has tried this trip twice and has had excuses on both occasions. Things have not gone great for him, but he has shown, to my eyes that, he should be persevered with over ten furlongs. 

He has a decent draw here in stall eight, so should not be caught out wide, and he should be able to show his best form. 

Nigel Tinkler’s gelding has run three times at York and not won, but he has actually run some of his best races on the Knavesmire and I believe the track suits him very well. 

He is back down to a mark of 83 which he finished a neck second off at this venue last September in a race that produced two next time out winners. 

Theme Park needs to come on a lot for his reappearance run where he finished last at Newcastle but if he does, then he is very generously priced at the general 25-1 available.

I have little doubt Another Investment has been readied to be in his best form for York's Dante Festival and I am hopeful that he can add to a very good afternoon for the Nigel Tinkler stable. 

It appears to me that the five-year-old has been bought to be campaigned largely at this track, looking at his record. He won his maiden as a two-year-old here and then struggled off very high handicap marks in 2023.

He should have won this race last season off a rating of 77 but got no sort of run and finished third, but did go on to win two starts later off a 2lb higher mark. His rating was raised to 90 after that which is too high for him, but he went to run very good races before getting bogged down in soft ground afterwards. 

He has since run well on Tapeta and has dropped down to a mark of 84, which he is well capable of running well off, and a glance at this season’s two runs look very much as though he has been primed for this contest.

David Menusier has his team in very good form and has had several recent runners performing well in Group class races here, and in Europe. 

Waxing Gibbous doesn’t enjoy that lofty status but could be well treated in this 0-72 handicap. The four-year-old has been lightly raced so far, not untypical of his trainer, but has still run promising races, especially on his reappearance this season when he finished second (and pulled well clear of the third) behind Fiddlers Green who was completing a hat-trick at Doncaster. 

He is proven on easy ground and, given the stable form, I would expect him to come on considerably from that effort.