Johnny Ward's free racing tips for Down Royal on Saturday

We saw some nice performances from smart performers at Down Royal on Friday, though it was far from satisfactory that four of the races involved a favourite sent off at long-odds on. Gordon Elliott, who also enjoyed a double Thursday at Thurles, will hardly be complaining though.

Saturday's action is more competitive and it is good to see Willie Mullins target the big race. There is also £50,000 up for grabs in the Paddy's Pick 5 competition which you can enter for free below. Be lucky.

It's a long time since this horse was on the radar of yours truly and others, having beaten Black Tears readily in a maiden at this track in January 2019. I thought he was very well-handicapped but, such is the way, he duly never won another race until scoring at Perth in September just gone. He faded when last seen at Punchestown but might be worth chancing here with the stable in such good form and few of these offering much appeal.

Gavin Cromwell revealed to Racing TV at Thurles on Thursday that Vanillier had suffered from kissing spines last season and needed an operation, in which case he could finally put it all together over fences this season. On that basis, there is a good argument for thinking he should be a much shorter price here.

Local owner Johnny Birkmyre would love a winner at Down Royal and it is fascinating to see Arctic Ambition switch from Robert Tyner to Gordon Elliott. I tend to find Tyner-trained horses really hard to predict but going on this week you can back an Elliott runner almost blindly at the moment. This horse could definitely still be very well-handicapped once he gets soft ground.