Paddy's Pick 5: horse racing tips for Saturday's £25,000 game

Congratulations to the sole Paddy’s Pick 5 player who correctly identified the five winners last weekend and scooped the £50,000 jackpot.

You can buy plenty of ice creams with that kind of money and it’s been a week to be getting stuck into those treats with temperatures soaring in most parts of Britain and Ireland.

There is another £25,000 up for grabs this week, with races at York and Sandown Park to solve. There’s an aggregate of 72 runners in those contests but hopefully we can point you in the right direction.

The Queen Mother’s Cup is exclusively for amateur female jockeys with Alice Stevens, successful on Zealandia for Ian Williams last year, hoping to repeat the trick on Dream Harder for the same trainer.

Dream Harder will be on plenty of shortlists after an unlucky fourth at Chester last time but his best form has come on soft/heavy ground and he’s not going to get his favourite conditions.

All ground seems to come alike to KIHAVAH and he looks to have a great chance, having won over course and distance at the Dante meeting in good style (only 5lb higher here) before following up over hurdles at Market Rasen. Trainer Adrian Keatley has snapped up the services of crack Irish amateur Jody Townend, younger sister of top jump jockey Paul. She’s got bundles of experience and ridden plenty of winners.

The key to this race may be the handicap run over an extended mile at Epsom during the Derby Festival.

Stablemates Austrian Theory and Dutch Decoy fought out the finish with the latter, only 1lb higher here, having decent prospect of going one better.

My eye in that race, though, was drawn to REPERTOIRE, who stayed on to be a never-nearer sixth after a slow start and meeting some trouble in running. Repertoire left the distinct impression we didn’t see the best of him and he could reverse the form granted a true pace and better fortune.

No shortage of candidates here, with ELIGIBLE getting the nod. The seven-year-old usually gives his running and there was plenty to like about the way he swooped from off the pace to win a 20-runner handicap over course and distance at the Dante meeting last month.

Several of those who finished behind him have since either won or run well, including seventh-placed Fortamour, who reopposes. Eligible is only 3lb higher so must go close if in similar heart.

Darkness again run well when touched off at Goodwood last week and runs off the same mark, while Scottish Summit and Liamarty Dreams arrive here on the back of solid wins.

GREAT STATE and Perdika are favoured by the official ratings and look the pair to focus on.

The former has the better draw and having won four of his past five starts (unbeaten in two starts on turf) is clearly on the upgrade. The grey took his form to a new level when powering home at York last time and can extend his winning spree before going on to better things.

Perdika’s latest success came over 6f in France but don’t worry about her dropping in trip as she’s a versatile customer. The uphill finish will play to her strengths.

Tajalla has looked good in winning both his starts but this represents a tougher assignment.

Give yourself a massive slap on the back if you make it through the first four legs of Paddy’s Pick 5. Now comes the hard part – cracking this fiercely competitive 22-runner sprint handicap, which is exclusively for three-year-olds.

I won’t blame you if you keep it simple by merely ticking off the progressive Quinault, who seeks a fifth successive win after victories at Chelmsford, Brighton and Newmarket (twice). However, he’s gone up 26lb in the ratings during his spree and now finds himself in a hotter race.

The pace looks like being very strong among those drawn low with Garner and Safari Dream among in-form front runners on that side. That sways me to WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, who was touched off by the smart Shouldvebeenaring in a valuable Sales race over course and distance at the Ebor meeting in August. On his most recent start, he caught the eye in finishing just a length behind Quinault and his pull in the weights can help turn the tables.