Dave Nevison's Saturday tips: a strong Ayr Gold Cup fancy and more

The Horse Watchers-owned Frankel gelding duly won at Ripon last time out on soft ground and, even though he is back up 5lb, he will remain competitive. 

Danny Tudhope is a strong jockey booking, and the tongue tie that worked last time is on again.

I was convinced French Duke had got up to land me a 14-1 winner last time out, but he was beaten a short-head on the nod, which was tough. 

The five-year-old needs some driving in a finish, but Callum Rodriguez can certainly manage that, and I have to give him one more chance in this Newbury feature. 

There aren’t many unexposed types in this smaller field than is sometimes the case, and Hamad Al Jehani has been impressive as a trainer all season.

This four-year-old seems to have learned how to settle on his latest couple of outings, and probably should have won both of those starts, and not just one. 

Luke Morris rode him perfectly at Doncaster last time out and he passed the whole field to score readily. I think there could be considerable improvement to come, and I am happy to back him to follow up in this.

I have mentioned on Racing TV that I backed Binhareer for this race some time ago, and I certainly wasn’t put off when I arrived at Ayr on Thursday as it was clearly going to be perfect ground for the William Haggas-trained four-year-old. Being handed stall two during the live draw on Racing TV on Thursday was another strong plus in my book, too.

Binhareer has run well in the best sprint handicaps this summer but cannot peg back rivals on summer ground. Tom Marquand knows him well, and should be able to cut through this field on Saturday. 

He has a Group One entry, which gives an idea to the regard he is held in.