Racing tips: The five-timer looks on the cards for front-running Quinault

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Go Athletico put in a very performance at Cork on his stable and Irish debut. The ground wasn't as soft as he'd like but he showed there's levels to this game and carried a big weight to victory by outclassing his rivals, he'll be a big player in the 5f or 6f sprints in Ireland this year.

It seems like we have another very poor day of racing, as Saturdays go. There are two Class 1 races out of five meetings, which is shoddy and it's not good enough for the main day of the week. I understand there's Royal Ascot around the corner, but you need more than that for Saturday, and both of the favourites in the races should win, but at the prices, I won't be touching them, so I'll get stuck into a couple of handicaps instead.

York 2:35 – Indian Falcon 18/1 (0.5pt EW PaddyPower 4pl)

If you were to take a quick look at the recent winners of this race since its inaugural race back in 2015 you'd think that 3yo's have a terrible record in it and that it's best to go with the older horses, but that doesn't tell the full story as there's only been one 3yo runner, so for some reason this race is avoided by the younger horses.

Even though there haven't been many 3yo runners in this race, I'm still siding with the only 3yo in the race, Indian Falcon. The great thing about backing 3yos early into the flat season is the weight-for-age allowance you get, the further the season progresses the weight allowances get smaller and smaller due to the younger horses becoming more mature as the season goes along, but at the moment for a 7f race they are getting 9lbs, which gives Indian Falcon a great chance in this race if he is mentally ready enough.

This is a bit of a gamble going for such an inexperienced horse in a hardy handicap, but the fact Richard Fahey has chucked him in this race gives me plenty of confidence that they think he can run a big race. He has only run three races in his career and that has already produced a win and then a decent run on handicap debut at Haydock last time out where it looked like he needed a longer trip. He broke slow last time out, and was well off the pace but made eye-catching ground up in the inside rail in the final furlong or so, looking like a horse who could be one to follow when put over a longer trip. He's bottom of the weights and is clearly capable of better, and with the odds being as generous as they are, he's well worth a bet.

York 3:40 – Quinault 7/1 (1pt EW 6pl)

Seeing a horse with plenty of 1's next to their form looks great, and shows they're in great form but there's always a sneaking feeling in the back of your head which thinks is this the race that the handicapper has caught up to them. I'm praying that the handicapper hasn't caught up to Quinault just yet, and I do think he is capable of going very close at the very least today at York.

Stuart Williams has done a great job progressing this horse and also placing him in the correct races. His run last time out was a career-best, winning a Class 2 handicap at Newmarket, recording an RPR of 95. That win saw his rating go up by 5lbs, but Stuart has been very clever by taking that 5lb off with Connor Planas doing the steering today instead of Marco Ghiani, which means he is running off the same mark as last time out due to Connor claiming 5lbs. Connor is a very talented young rider, who has been riding plenty of winners of late, so I think this is a very shrewd jockey booking and it gives Quinault every chance of landing the five-timer.

He is a horse who clearly appreciates fast ground, so the dry forecast is lovely for his chances, but also, I do think he is well-handicapped off a mark of 80, which sounds ridiculous as he won last time out off this mark, but he could win again after landing this race today, as I think he saves a bit for himself when he hits the front. He was always prominent in his race last time out, looked in control but started to do little in front until the closers came to his behind.

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