Mark's Bet of the Day: York 13:50 - Back Zennor Storm @ 5/16.00
The 1m handicap that opens proceedings on Friday is an absolute cracker and chances can be given to any number of the 20-runner field.
However, I've had Zennor Storm marked down for something like this for a while now and I'm confident the William Haggas-trained three-year-old will give us a good run for our money.
The son of Mohaather burst on to the scene towards the end of 2025 when winning his first two starts and I had high hopes that he'd prove one to follow this season.
His reputation was somewhat tarnished, though, by a pair of poor turf efforts at Newmarket and Newbury in spring. But a gelding operation after the second of those operations seemed to work the oracle and he showed much more when fourth in a good handicap over this C&D in June.
Zennor Storm then built on that with a fine second in a big-field handicap at Goodwood last time, finishing to good effect after the winner had rather stolen a march on him. The cheekpieces that were fitted there are retained here and I'm hopeful the selection can go one better this time around.
Back Zennor Storm to win 13:50 York
Notable winners from Mark in recent weeks
Item @ 7/1
Edward Sexton @ 7/2
Archers Bay @ 11/4
Influencer Man @ 11/4
Asia Force @ 5/2
Quest For Stars @ 5/2
Haffner @ 6/4
Lonsdale Cup, York, 14:25 - Back Carmers @ 5/16.00
Caballo De Mar and Amiloc head the betting for the 2m Lonsdale Cup and it's easy enough to see why.
The former ended an excellent 2025 season with a win in the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp and landed another Group 1 back there in May. He was reported to be showing signs of heat stress when blowing out in the Ascot Gold cup last time, so that effort can be forgiven.
Amiloc is another who can easily have a line put thought his last run when unseating early in the Goodwood Cup before running loose in the race. Both deserve to be up there, but I'm going to take them on with Carmers at a bigger price.
The Irish raider didn't see out the trip in the Ascot Gold Cup last time, but had taken a 2m listed contest in good style on his previous start and the return to that trip here should see him in a much better light.
With just eight starts under his belt, Carmers still isn't fully exposed and he is taken to bag the biggest prize of his career to date.
Back Carmers to win 14:25 York
Gimcrack Stakes, York, 15:00 - Back Marco Polo @ 5/16.00
It's hard to believe that Aidan O'Brien hasn't won the Gimcrack since way back in 2001 when Rock Of Gibraltar landed the race, but he has a fascinating contender this year in the shape of Marco Polo.
A full brother to the smart William Haggas-trained Saber Strike, Marco Polo will come into the race as a maiden having had just one run under his belt, but he showed plenty of promise in that outing when second to Push The Boat Out at the Curragh earlier this month.
Despite being the second string on jockey bookings, Marco Polo made an encouraging start to his career under Ronan Whelan, staying on nicely without being given anything like a hard time.
The form of that race hasn't been fully tested yet, but a couple of the beaten horses have run quite well again since and it looks interesting that O'Brien has decided to rely on this one in here when there were presumably plenty more he could have targeted at the race.
Back Marco Polo to win 15:00 York