Five horses to follow from our experts at York on Saturday

Tipster: Dave Nevison.

Best odds: 4-1.

Adrian Keatley clearly targets this race every year. He won it in 2023, had the favourite again last year, and looks like he has a runner with a strong chance again this time around.

Secret Force did well over jumps last winter for Gavin Cromwell and looks to have potential upside on the Flat judged by his recent promising first run for this yard.

He was out the back at Hamilton and never challenged, but was staying on noticeably at the death and definitely looked capable of better.

Georgie Benson is a well established Irish amateur who rides for many top yards and Secret Force will lack nothing in the saddle.

Tipster: Alex Scott.

Best odds: 2-1 (advised ante-post at 6-1).

A typically competitive card looks in store at York on Saturday afternoon and they don’t come much more difficult than the second race on the card at 2.25, the Sky Bet Supporting Macmillan Handicap.

There are plenty in with a chance in the seven-furlong contest and it looks worth having a couple of darts at the race, firstly with the William Haggas-trained three-year-old EXTREMELY ZAIN, who is two from two and was last seen defying a penalty to win at Newbury over this trip.

The unexposed son of Hello Youmzain has an entry in the Sussex Stakes and was a seven-length winner on debut last December, so is clearly highly regarded by his powerful connections.

Then, when racing on turf for the first time last month, he responded well to Cieren Fallon’s urgings to score by a neck over a subsequent winner. Things did not all go to plan in that race either, having failed to get a clear run approaching the two pole, and he hung slightly left-handed in the final half-furlong, yet still managed to win.

Rated 93, he should have learnt plenty from that and is a strong stayer at this trip. Out of a full-sister to multiple Group One heroine Lush Lashes, he looks worth siding with at 6-1 in receipt of 10lb weight-for-age allowance.

Consider backing AALTO each-way.

Tipster: Andy Stephens.

Best odds: 9-2.

We are always told William Haggas likes to have winners at York. Which trainer doesn't?

More pertinet, for punters, is whether his runners at the track are profitable to follow.

RaceiQ’s Actual versus Expected (A/E) metric measures all his horses, winners and their odds. An A/E score higher than 1 means runners are outperforming expectations. Anything below 1 means the opposite.

Haggas’s overall A/E is a healthy 1.11 but at York it soars to 1.78. He’s had 15 winners from 48 runners there in the past year at a strike-rate of 31.25%.

His next best tracks, where he’s had 25 runners or more in the past 12 months, are Newbury (1.45), Newmarket (1.33) and Goodwood (1.31). But the data tells us to be wary about backing his runners at places like Sandown (0.49), Windsor (0.7) or Yarmouth (0.77).

He does like having winners at York! And Thunder Call looks capable of giving him another in the £120,000 Churchill Tyres Supporting Macmillan Sprint Handicap.

Thunder Call is unexposed, having had only three starts, and makes his handicap bow off a rating of 85 after a runaway win in a maiden at Kempton last month. That form is not easy to read, although the third has won twice since and is now rated 82.

There is no grey area regarding how Thunder Call zoomed through the final two furlongs in 22.88sec, which was at least a whole second quicker than anything else in the field.

That warrants a sectional upgrade and hints he could be destined for much bigger things, as befits a horse whose half-brother, Skardu, made the frame in the English and Irish editions of the 2000 Guineas in 2019.

His draw in stall 4 is a bonus as the RaceiQ data indicates that gives him an instant 0.84 length advantage. Those drawn 17 or higher have a 0.43 length disadvantage or worse

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

Best odds: 9-1.

Frankies Dream is only 1lb higher than when winning at York last year and can repeat the dose. 

He was the only horse to dip under 13 seconds when a staying-on third at Beverley last time and moving up in trip should suit as he’s had the highest Finishing Speed Percentage in 12 of his past 20 races. 

Tipster: Mark Rowntree.

Best odds: 12-1 (each-way).

Ruth Carr’s six-year-old, a course and distance winner, needs a strong gallop to aim at, and he should get that in this competitive 22-runner contest.

Hampered on his last visit to York, he was a late closer (fourth) behind Wokingham Stakes hopeful Realign at Carlisle a fortnight ago. That form line was given a boost by the heavily supported Wild Clary at Newbury on Thursday, so he promises to be competitive here, prior to possible mid-to-late season tilts at the Great St Wilfrid, and the Ayr Gold/Silver Cup.