TV TIPS (SATURDAY)

15:00 York

A listed contest over a mile and three quarters awaits eight runners at York this afternoon.

Gold Mount is an intriguing runner here, originally trained by Alan King at the start of his career, he has travelled far and wide and has now returned to England for trainer Ian Williams. He has run over a variety of distances, predominantly mile and a quarter/half but has experimented over further. It has to be a doubt that conditions are going to favour him, despite the fact he is the joint highest rated horse in the race at 110.

Mark Johnstons pair must also be considered, tactically durable with no ground issues, they will definitely have a say in this event. Making Miracles would be the favoured of the pair. After routing the field in the Chester cup on desperate ground, he stepped up in class next time and ran respectably behind Ascot gold cup bound stable mate Dee Ex Bee. Ground conditions were to quick for him on that occasion. and with mud flying again he would be dangerous if left alone on the front end.

Austrian School the other Johnston runner should also relish these condition, particularly being a half brother to a dual Grand National winner.

Both Raheen House, who has switched from Brian Meehan to William Haggas and Desert Skyline are both decent individuals who seem to have lost their way a little. This does represent a drop in class for Desert Skyline, he has been contesting a lot of the major staying contests for a while. It would be no surprise to see him feature more prominently than of late, especially as he handles conditions. Raheen House may improve from the switch to a different yard, he still has time on his side, but a watching brief is advised.

Mekong ticks a lot of boxes here and is the selection. Conditions here look absolutely ideal today for this horse, an eye-catching seasonal debut at Sandown in the Henry II should set him up nicely for this. Running on faster ground than ideal, he travelled supremely well in that contest, until a lack of match practice took its toll. A horse that revels in soft ground and providing Ryan Moore doesn’t leave the Johnston horses alone on the front, it looks an ideal opportunity. With a run under his belt, and with the usual level of fitness improvement he is expected  to take this race.

MEKONG – (WIN)

ITV Racing: YORK 13.50    MAKAWEE YORK  14.25   KAESO YORK 15.00    MEKONG (NAP) YORK  15.35   BLOWN BY WIND SANDOWN  14.05  POCKET DYNAMO SANDOWN  15.15  THRAVE CHESTER   14.40   DURSTON

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The Cambridge News – PicksfromthePaddock.co.uk:

15:00 York – MEEKONG (WIN)

The Jersey Evening Post – Rory Paddock:

16:55 Chester – QUICK LOOK (WIN)

East Anglian Daily Times – Dean Kilbryde:

14:05 Sandown – WELL DONE FOX (WIN)

Norwich Evening News – Chris Connolly:

16:55 Chester – QUICK LOOK (WIN)

Ipswich Star – Matt Polley:

14:35 Sandown – FANTASY KEEPER (WIN)