Saturday tips: Dave Nevison's best bets at Haydock and Ascot

Lihyan goes well for either of the Maggs brothers, but William, who rides here, has won on him three times already, so possibly just has the edge, and his 5lb claim is certainly very valuable in this contest. 

The selection improved throughout last season and came back from a mid-winter break looking as though he still might be on the upgrade. 

He was a good second last time out at Newcastle but carried his head awkwardly in the finish, and has subsequently had a wind operation. If the op has helped, then further improvement could ensue, and that would make him a real competitor in this. 

His latest win came over 2m7½f, and I doubt this extra furlong will trouble him. 

Tapley is 4lb lower than when runner-up in this race last season, and with champion jockey Sean Bowen taking over from a 7lb claimer, he can hopefully go one better this time. 

The eight-year-old won a handicap on his seasonal reappearance this term, but has had a disappointing season since that.

The positive is that he dropped in the weights and his run last time, when fifth at Hereford, suggested he is getting ready to score again. 

It may be significant that he was well backed again last time out, so had clearly been going well at home, and I suspect he will be strong in the market again with the jockey switch. 

It is great for those of us who go back a while to see Schweppes back sponsoring UK race,s and it would be even better if they had a few Schweppes-named horses on the track as well! 

The pace in this traditional cavalry charge is clearly amongst the higher half of the draw, which is generally most favoured here, so I will be surprised if the winner doesn’t come from that group. 

Roi De France is a keen-going sort, so looks the ideal type for this race which will be strongly run, and that should enable him to sit very close to the leaders before making his move. 

He ran well to be second in probably the hottest all-weather handicap of the season last time out, and has been improving consistently throughout his career. 

His one disappointment came when encountering soft ground, and there is no chance of that here, so it is difficult to see Roi De France not going well on Saturday. 

Kotari won this race last season off a 2lb higher mark and may well have enough in his favour this time to be worth chancing to follow up at much bigger odds. 

The Gary and Josh Moore-trained gelding was on a roll and completed a hat-trick in 2024, but is not in the same hot form as yet this term.

However, he ran well over hurdles in December, and his comeback run at Epsom can be ignored as a slowly run race would not have suited. 

It did mean he was dropped 3lb to a very favourable mark, which can only help. This race looks set to be strongly run, and with an advantageous draw amongst the higher numbers, Kotari would seem to have a decent opportunity to follow up his 2024 win.