Dave Massey is back with his weekend Horse Racing Tips, previewing Saturday’s competitive action from York and Haydock. Read his weekly tips, exclusively for column.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: May 23rd 2026 Preview
Kats Bob (1.50) rates the best bet of the all the tricky handicaps today, with stall 8 a perfect draw for Ruth Carr’s blazeaway front-runner. He was also drawn 8 when he won over this C&D last June, his customary early speed combining with a better finishing effort to win by half a length, form that looks very solid.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Kats Bob (York, 1.50)
He’s a pound lower than that today, so has every chance from a handicapping point of view, and he looked back to form when a close fourth at Thirsk last time. There’s not much in the way of pace in this, considering the size of the field, and he might just get his own way up front. That could make him hard to peg back, and with everything seemingly in his favour, he should go well.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Toca Madera (York, 2.40)
Patience is starting to wear a bit thin with Toca Madera (2.40), but he looks to have fared better with the draw today, and is getting one more chance before he gets scrubbed from the tracker. Go back twelve months and you’ll find him finishing a close third over C&D to American Affair and JM Jungle, form that couldn’t have worked out much better as the season went on, and he looked sure to win a race or two on that.
Despite some solid efforts in good quality Windsor handicaps after that, he couldn’t get his head in front and his season finished off very weakly. He then moved from Brian Meehan to David O’Meara and ran a respectable race at Thirsk first time up, but was probably undone by a high draw here last time, although in finishing third (of six) in the group drawn high.
He has probably run a bit better than the figures might have suggested. Now 11lb lower than this time last year, he’s got to pop up when it all falls right for him, and with the potential pacemaker We Never Stop next door in stall 3, he ought to get a good lead into the race.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Winding Stream (Haydock, 2.20)
This, as you’d expect, looks very open, but perhaps the handicapper has taken a bit of a chance with Winding Stream (2.20), who ran a good race on the figures (and the visuals) when an eleven-length sixth to Raaheeb in the Classic Trial at Sandown last time out.
He looked to be doing too much on the front end but in a race where he had no chance, finished on the heels of a few that have done the form no harm since; Spyce a close fourth in the London Gold Cup and Action running second to Item in the Dante. He will need to prove himself on the ground, but a mark of 89 looks more than workable and if he can be settled better near the front, could be a bit of value.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Mgheera (Haydock, 3.30)
It could be deja vu all over again, as Mgheera (3.30) won this from stall 11 last year and having pulled the same stall this time around, the draw again looking favourable to Ed Walker’s mare, she can come out on top again. She held her form pretty well after her game victory in this race last season, highly tried in Group 1 company for much of it, and looked rusty on her comeback at Longchamp a fortnight ago.
Ffor all she ran on late to finish midfield in a race not really run to suit her come-from-behind style. There won’t be any hanging around here though, with both speedballs Jakajaro and Night Raider to take them along, and if Kieran Shoemark can just time it right, she can get her head in front again.
By Dave Massey
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