Saturday Horse Racing Predictions by Stephen Harris at Musselburgh and Doncaster

Michael Dods sprinter shaped really well on his seasonal reappearance at Thirsk in April and should relish the emphasis on pace at this sharpest of five furlongs at Musselburgh on Saturday. He caught the eye after rearing leaving the stalls at Leicester last time out and is now back down to a winning mark with ground conditions to suit.

His last victory came over six furlongs at Wolverhampton in August 2023, and a bold attacking ride from the stalls from Silvestre de Sousa should soon have these modest Class six rivals out of their comfort zone from an early stage.

Charlie Johnston has his team are in rude health at the moment with six winners in the past fortnight, and his unexposed maiden performer went straight into the notebook when a cracking second on his seasonal reappearance at this sharp track over a mile in April.

He can be forgiven a lesser effort at Newbury last time out upped to 1m2f, chasing a fast pace and weakening quickly a furlong out in a red-hot contest won by Kings Gambit. This 1m1f trip could be his optimum under Joe Fanning, and a positive ride from the front is always a good plan of attack at this course.

Ben Brookhouse’s tough mare ran a cracker over hurdles when finishing second in a huge field at Aintree last month and has been found a terrific opening at Doncaster on Saturday. She has won two from eight on the turf previously, goes particularly well with a bit of cut in the ground, and a lowly mark of just 67 in this sphere looks extremely generous (if she can translate her recent improvement over timber back to the flat).