Thirsk, Saturday 18 April 2026 — Tips & Selections

Thirsk, Saturday 18 April 2026 — Tips & Selections

A decent Saturday card at Thirsk, with good ground underfoot and eight races to get stuck into. The track suits handy, front-running types over the sprint trips, and the going should produce fair, accurate form. Three races stand out for punters looking for a proper angle, so here is where the money goes today.

1:37 — British EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes (5f)

Six runners, all debutantes, so we are reading sire pages and trainer form rather than racecourse form. Karl Burke's Bai Tong heads the market at around 10/11, and the Burke yard has been operating at a solid 8/48 strike rate over the past fortnight, which for a northern yard with a busy string is a decent conversion rate. Burke consistently produces well-schooled juveniles ready to run their race first time out, and the money has found this filly.

The value alternative is Silesia at 4/1 with Bet365 for Kevin Ryan. Ryan has two runners in this, and Silesia holds the stronger market position of the pair. Kevin Stott takes the ride, a partnership that works well for the Hambleton yard. In a small-field juvenile with no form to split them, the each-way terms are too tight to play around, and the market leader is genuinely short enough to oppose if you want a speculative nibble on Silesia at the available price.

Selection: Bai Tong at 10/11 (William Hill, Coral). Burke's juveniles arrive ready, and the market confidence here is not misplaced.

2:12 — Thomas Lord Maiden Stakes (7f)

Sixteen runners in a 7f maiden, and the form horse is pretty clear. Advance Twentyfive for Richard and Peter Fahey carries a Racing Post Rating of 88 and has an 87 TS, comfortably the best numbers in the field. The form figures of 44295 show a horse who has been knocking on the door without winning, but strip away the maiden tag and this horse is running to a standard most rivals here simply cannot match. Oisin Orr takes the ride, and the Fahey yard has posted four winners from 28 runners in the past 14 days, a yard clearly in decent nick.

Best price is 9/4 with Coral and Betfred. In a maiden this wide open beyond the top two in the market, the placed runners are largely irrelevant. Advance Twentyfive needs to justify favouritism, and on raw figures alone, the RPR of 88 versus a field where most runners are either unrated or well below that level makes this as close to a formality as you will find in a 16-runner maiden.

Selection: Advance Twentyfive at 9/4 (Coral, Betfred).

5:07 — Stirrup Bar Handicap (5f, 14 runners)

Mo Of Cairo Each-Way is the pick of this competitive 14-runner sprint. Kevin Stott takes the ride for Kevin Ryan, and the form figures of 2312 tell a straightforward story: this colt has been consistently competitive and ran into a winner last time on what looked like a fair mark. The RPR of 91 and a 6/1 available with Bet365 and Coral represents decent value in a field where the top-rated runner (Merlier on 96) is unproven in handicap company, having won his three starts in novice/maiden grade.

Daneh Of Dandy at 17/2 with PricedUp Bet is the other serious contender. Daniel Tudhope is a top-class jockey for this track and trip, and the James Tate yard has been ticking over. The RPR of 92 is solid. The concern is a TS of just 71, which suggests the horse did not travel as fluently as the official rating implies last time. Mo Of Cairo's TS of 77 and more consistent sectional profile makes Ryan's colt the preferred angle.

In a 14-runner sprint handicap, each-way is the play at 6/1. Four places at 1/5 odds gives you a decent safety net in a race where pace and draw can make fools of us all.

Selection: Mo Of Cairo Each-Way at 6/1 (Bet365, Coral).

Today's NAP