Friday ITV Tips: Mark Milligan's three to back on Day 3 of the Ebor Festival

• Varian runner can get rub of the green this time

• Aussie mare to take home big sprint

• Progressive filly to make step up in class

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13:50 York - Back French Duke @ 4/1

There's a strong case for saying that French Duke hasn't been seen to anything like best effect on both stats this season and he's worth giving another chance to in the 1m 4f Heritage Handicap that opens day three of the Ebor meeting.

The four-year-old was progressive last season, running out a ready winner over this trip at Goodwood before finding only one too strong on his final 2024 start at Ascot.

Roger Varian's charge made his comeback in the Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap at Royal Ascot in June but could never really get involved from off the pace that day, while shaping as if the run would bring him on a good deal.

Sent to Goodwood last time (and put up in this column), he again struggled to land a blow from the rear, but had an almost impossible task in any case with that race being run at only a modest tempo.

He also didn't fully convince with his stamina over 1m 6f there and the drop back to this trip should show him in a much better light.

15:35 York - Back Asfoora @ 5/1

It's fair to say that the sprinting cupboard is pretty sparse at the top end in Europe and this year's Nunthorpe looks as good a time as any for juveniles to have a crack at their elders in receipt of plenty of weight.

We've already seen several older handicappers make the leap to Group company in sprints this season, with American Affair taking the King Charles III, while one of the runners in here, J M Jungle took the King George Stakes at Goodwood last time.

That makes the case for classy two-year-olds to step up quite compelling, though whether the better of the pair in in here, Lady Iman, has quite hit the level needed to scoop the prize is open to debate, while the other one, Spicy Marg, seemingly has a big gap to bridge.

I'm not fully convinced Lady Iman should be favourite on what she's achieved so far, and I'm instead prepared to give the Aussie mare Asfoora one more chance.

Last year's King Charles III winner, the seven-year-old hasn't fired in both starts over here so far this season, but there's a case to say she might just have needed both those runs having had a slightly different preparation and she could well be cherry-ripe for this prize.

She's got plenty of toe and her draw in stall five should be no inconvenience.

16:10 York - Back Cape Flora @ 5/1

This looks an open fillies' handicap, but I was most taken by the way John & Thady Gosden's Cape Flora dispensed with lower class opposition last time and she could well make the step up in grade now she's on the right track.

The daughter of Kingman wasn't helping herself earlier this year by taking too much of a grip and not seeing out her races, while also making life even more difficult by starting slowly. However, she was much more alert from the stalls at Leicester last time and appeared to relish a switch to front-running tactics with her usual hood removed.

That wasn't much of a race but she fairly bolted up from the front and was value for extra on top of the six-length winning margin, while the Timeform timefigure she recorded there is good enough to make her competitive at this higher level.

A good-looking, tall filly, she also possesses a pedigree that suggests she can be more than a late 70s-rated handicapper in time and is in good hands to carry on progressing now she's figuring the game out.

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