Five horses to follow on Thursday

Tipster: RaceiQ nap of the day (Andy Stephens).

Best odds: 7-1.

Top speed: 43.66mph when winning at York last July. 

Draw advantage on Thursday: 0.78 lengths.

Trainer’s overall Actual Over Expected: 1.48 (anything over 1 is a positive).

Air Force One has shone at York in the past, including when winning at the track in July, and the data tells us he is favourably drawn in stall 6. 

Moreover, he’s only 2lb higher than when producing a final furlong flourish to get up at Beverley last time. The Time Index for that race was 8.9, when the meeting average was 7.5, and it looks a strong piece of form. 

Tipster: Dave Nevison.

Best odds: 7-2.

I have only just recovered from watching Sea Force’s nightmare run in the Thirsk Hunt Cup recently and my only qualm about putting him up is that he does have a slightly concerning record of things not always going right for him. He has not won the number of times commensurate with his ability.

The four-year-old has only gone up 1lb for that most unfortunate effort and he would have been raised more if he had got the breaks, so in my view he is clearly very well-handicapped.

There is no way the Thirsk effort can be blamed on either jockey or horse and I am happy to have one more decent bet on him here. The extreme pace forecast for this race and a good low draw just outside habitual front-runner Point Lynas should enable Tom Marquand, who won on him at Yarmouth last season, to hold a good position this time.

Tipster: Nic Doggett.

Best odds: 10-1 (advised at 12-1).

Derby entries can sometimes be a little misleading in the Dante, which, while proven to be one of the foremost trials for Epsom, is a strong race in its own right. John Gosden has a good record, winning it three times (running two horses on each occasion) since first landing it in 1997 with Benny The Dip, and it’s worth noting that his 2015 winner Golden Horn and 2016 winner Wings Of Desire both needed supplementing for the Derby after winning here.

Although stablemate Saxon Street may have stronger Epsom credentials, Wise Prince can follow in their footsteps; he only has a length to find with Al Zanati on their Sandown clash and this flatter track should play to his strengths.

Of the market leaders, Christmas Day makes the most appeal and his prominent style of racing should see him well placed throughout as he bids to give his trainer a first win since 2010. Item looks the pick of the rest.

Tipster: Ross Millar.

Best odds: 11-10.

Trainer Olly Murphy boasts an excellent 36% strike rate at Perth while jockey Sean Bowen surpasses that with a 38% success rate.

Trust House appeared to relish a return to a sounder surface this spring, winning at Market Rasen and Ffos Las - both times over this trip.

He's now up another 8lb, but that wouldn't have stopped him last time; he can land the hat-trick. 

Tipster: Alex Scott.

Best odds: 4-1.

Speedball Revival Power should be suited by the return to this track and will take some catching. 

A winner on debut, it spoke volumes that Tim Easterby deemed her good enough to contest the Queen Mary four weeks later, and whilst she found that a step too far too soon, she followed it up with four top performances over the minimum trip.

The best of these came when winning a Listed contest over this course and distance, and then winning the Flying Childers at Doncaster. This was followed by a solid run at Newmarket where she set the pace and they broke the juvenile course record. 

She has been the subject of glowing reports from her top trainer, who trained her brother to win the Nunthorpe here. This pace filly also hold an entry at the top-level and can land this before going onto bigger things this season.