Racing tips: The Gelding operation might work wonders for the well-bred Yantarni

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Morty was a winning selection from yesterday. The thread was a bit dead so I doubt many of you got on him at 11/2, but hopefully, some of you did and made a nice profit.

It's Friday and that's great to hear as this week has had some dreadful racing. Today, we have plenty of races to pick from, including some nice handicaps and a couple of Class 1's over in Ireland if that's what you prefer.

Thirsk 4:30

It was not a surprise to see RAVENGLASS winning with a fair amount in hand last time out at Redcar as he has been showing some good levels of form in class 6 races since his mid-season break.

He has finished in the places three times in the last three runs, which has seen him go from third to second to eventually breaking his maiden tag last time out. The form of his runner-up finish looks very strong for a class 6 race. The winner has since won again in a competitive and well-paid Racing League Class 3 handicap. The third has won twice since. The fourth has finished runner-up in his only run since, finishing a neck to a very in-form horse Temper Trap, who has won four of the last five runs. Even the fifth horse from the run at Ayr has come out and won, so it's fair to say that form line is bombproof and has to be respected.

Ravenglass has only gone up 5lbs for his win and I believe that is definitely surmountable. The odds aren't great, but I think he could be tough to beat.

Newmarket 3:10

It might seem daft going for YANTARNI, but I just get the feeling this horse could have much potential now that he has been gelded. We've seen it on a few occasions in recent years with Charlie Appleby and when he decides to geld a horse, it often brings out tonnes of improvement and I think the same applies to this son of Dubawi.

It must pain the Godolphin team when they have to geld a horse like Yantarni who has a good pedigree, but sometimes it needs to be done as they can't improve without having the ol' chop. Yibir is one who instantly springs to mind who improved at a rate of knots after being gelded. He went on to be a Group 1 winner later on in that season, so it definitely paid off.

The lads at home in the Appleby yard must think a fair bit of this horse as he has gone off favourite 3x in a row, twice being short (8/15 and 11/10), where fingers were clearly burnt. I mentioned earlier that he has a lovely pedigree, and it would be a surprise if he didn't go on to become better than his current opening handicap mark of 80. He is by Dubawi and out of a man who has produced Group Winners, including Khawlah who went on to breed Masar who is Godolphin's first-ever Derby winner.

I am taking a chance that he is better than what we've seen, and I'm risking his fitness being up to scratch on the back of a 262-day break, but this race looks winnable and I hope the gelding operation has worked a treat. The money has come in for him again, so is shorter than I'd like, but I'll still be having a small play.

Hamilton 6:53

William Haggas is a wonderful target trainer and whenever he sends a horse up to the Northern and Scottish racetracks, they have to be highly respected as they won't be going up there for the fun of it.

PRIDE OF PRIORY will have to be well-handicapped to win this Heritage Handicap worth £51,540 to the winner, as he carries top weight, but he is a horse at the top of his game, arriving on a hat-trick and a horse who could possibly be seen in Listed company in the near future.

William Haggas won this race last year with Mahrajaan who was well-handicapped, winning off a mark of 85 and is now rated 99, so today's horse will have a much tougher task, but I think he could be up to it. He won a Class 2 race at the Shergar Cup meeting last time out and he cruised into contention that day and won with a fair bit in hand.

As we come towards the latter stages of the flat season, the trainers who target the trainer's championship start to get deep into it and they try to plunder any expensive handicap, no matter how far they have to travel. Currently, Haggas is leading the charge and I think he wants to win it this year quite badly, so the fact he has sent this lad up to win this fairly expensive handicap suggests he really fancies his chances as he will have had a couple of horses who could've turned up to this, but he has gone for Pride Of Priory.

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