Stephen Harris' Saturday Racing Tips at Chester and York

Karl Thornton’s recent arrival from Sheila Lavery landed a wholesale plunge down to 6/4f over this unique course and distance earlier in the month (more in hand than the bare margin), and he can defy a small weight’s rise under the excellent up-and-coming claimer Sean Dylan Bowen.

He remains open to plenty more improvement for these astute connections, and the improving underfoot conditions are very much in his favour after a dry and warm week of weather.

Kevin Ryan has a typically strong hand in the juvenile division in the north, and his highly regarded filly overcame inexperience to make an impressive racecourse debut at Beverley (despite racing freely and running green when first asked a question).

She now steps right up in class at York on Saturday but has the potential to do a good deal better as she settles down (and this flat track on decent ground should suit ideally under Danny Tudhope).

Darryl Holland’s frustrating performer has rarely missed a meeting at Chester this season and has run well on every visit to the track despite failing to land market support. The “king of Chester” Franny Norton is an eye-catching jockey booking, and he seems sure to go very close if able to weave his way through up the short straight.

A fast run race is on the cards, with a few confirmed frontrunners in the line-up, and they can cut each other's throats on the lead and set things up nicely late on.