Thirsk Tips: Friday 10 April 2026

Thirsk Tips: Friday 10 April 2026

A modest eight-race card at Thirsk on good ground, but there are angles worth playing across three featured races. The going suits horses who want some zip underfoot, and with trainer form telling a mixed story across the yard stats, we're leaning on horses whose recent form and course profile speaks for itself. A busy weekend of boxing kicks off tomorrow night with Riakporhe, Huni and Felix Cash all in action, but tonight the focus is firmly on the Yorkshire turf.

2:08 — Join Racing TV Today Maiden Stakes (5f, Good)

Selection: Final Appeal (5/4 Bet365)

Four days after running at Nottingham, Final Appeal reappears and there's an obvious question about the turnaround. But look at the angle: a neck second at Nottingham on good ground over the identical five furlongs, racing as the 5/4 favourite. That experience on a track where most of these are complete debutants is enormous in a race of this calibre. K R Burke sends him back quickly, which suggests the yard believes the Nottingham run left him in good shape, not drained. His TS of 49 already beats every other runner on the card who has a figure.

The opposition includes Thebesthasyetocome, a £100,000 Starman colt who could be interesting if he attracts serious market support. Monitor the market, but the form angle is clearly with Final Appeal. At 5/4 this isn't a betting extravaganza, but in a maiden of this nature, taking a short price on the only runner with a recent run under his belt is logical.

4:25 — British EBF Michael Foster Conditions Stakes (7f, Good)

Selection: Mount Athos (5/1 Bet365 / William Hill)

The race angle writes itself here. Mount Athos has run in this specific race twice before: second in 2023, second in 2025. On both occasions he arrived via the same Kempton 7f prep win, and he has done exactly that again, winning at Kempton 23 days ago. James Tate has found the key to this horse, and the pattern is almost absurdly consistent. The question is whether he can turn a second into a winner, but at 5/1 you're getting paid handsomely to find out.

Poet Master (9/4) has the standout form at face value, a Group 2 winner who went close at Longchamp and Newmarket last autumn. But his 2025 reappearance was flat, and while he won first time up in 2023 and 2024, that consistency doesn't extend to course-specific pattern like Mount Athos brings. Scoville (7/2) is lightly raced and intriguing post-gelding for Haggas, but his two defeats in better races than this give pause.

Elarak at 9/1 is worth a each-way look too. Back on the up after gelding, won at Newmarket on good to firm last September over 7f, and Charles Hills has done well in this race previously. But the main bet is Mount Athos, with the course-and-trip pattern impossible to ignore.

Each-way suggestion: Elarak Each-Way at 9/1 (Bet Victor/talkSPORT Bet), 3 places at 1/5 odds.

5:00 — Download The Raceday Ready App Handicap (1m4f, Good)

Selection: Pride Of Donegal (11/4 Bet365 / William Hill / Coral)

Only five runners, so no each-way play warranted here. Pride Of Donegal arrives on the back of making all at Wolverhampton last weekend, a performance where the race was settled well before the line. The blinkers have transformed this colt since going on in his prep, with two wins from two at Wolverhampton over this exact trip. He's 3lb higher under the penalty, which the spotlight notes he carries comfortably on these terms.

The concern is the turf switch. He's unraced on grass, and Thirsk on good ground is a different test from Wolverhampton's Polytrack. But Charlie Johnston's yard is operating at 3/31 in the last 14 days, not red-hot, so we're relying on the horse's own form rather than trainer momentum. Asmen Warrior goes off favourite at evens for James Owen, and he's been consistent enough, but 1m4f is untested for him and his trainer stats (5/46) aren't compelling either.

In The Breeze at 6/1 for Henrietta Knight warrants a mention. Won at Pontefract over 1m4f on good to soft off just 3lb lower, Cieren Fallon takes the ride, and if the yard has him right after a break this could outperform. But Pride Of Donegal's recent form is the most reliable hook in a race where nothing else screams value.

Today's NAP