Saturday tips: Dave Nevison's four best bets

Byzantine Express is having only her fifth run for Jedd O’Keeffe in this ultra-competitive sprint handicap but ran probably her best race for the yard on her reappearance at Haydock earlier this month.

The stable’s runners are going well currently and the four-year-old filly might well be able to improve on that Haydock third place and won’t be far away if she does so. The drop down to 6f shouldn’t inconvenience her, especially in a race that is bound to be run at a furious pace.

She does look to have a decent draw in stall 9 and should get a decent tow into the race, so I am hopeful of a good run at decent odds.

The two horses that Durham Castle beat at Goodwood on his final start last season have both been running well off much higher marks this season, so it seems evident that the form was strong and that the Crisford four-year-old might actually have got away with a lenient rise, even though he was raised 9lb for that win last September.

Winning that race by three lengths and going up 9lb is pretty much a slide rule interpretation of the win but, with his stable being in excellent form, I am pretty confident that he will be fully ready on this his seasonal reappearance, even though Royal Ascot may be the main target.

A further rise would mean he was certain to get into the Wokingham and this looks the ideal stepping stone. 

The Fahey stable are a little short of winners at present, but if there is a track that the trainer will bounce back to form it is surely York. Plenty from the yard have run well recently without quite reaching the winner’s enclosure and Loom certainly figures amongst them after an excellent second over course and distance at the Dante meeting.

Nothing could live with The Man in that massive field but that horse could have been very well-in and end up better than a handicapper. This is only the sixth run of this three-year-old's career and his two-year-old season ended very early, but he was tried in Group Two company on his last run and ran respectably in the Norfolk.

His reappearance was a disaster as he crashed through the rails going to the start and was far too keen in the race, but was obviously back in the zone last time out and hopefully will build on that run here.

Quest For Fun has won a course and distance handicap off today’s mark and his last win came off significantly higher, so there is no doubt he is well handicapped and that his turn is well overdue.

Tim Easterby’s seven-year-old ran really well at Thirsk last time, albeit finishing only sixth, but not enjoying any sort of run. It may be that he would be much better suited by soft ground, but he has sufficient good efforts on faster ground to make me believe he will run well in this big field.

I notice that there may be some rain at the track in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday and every drop might help but I am more than happy to take a chance with him whatever.