Horse Racing Tips: Sam Turner's best bets on Friday including strong Haydock fancy

Goodwood, 15.07 - Back St Mawes @ 11/43.75

St Mawes was entitled to need his return from a 199-day absence here earlier this month and could find a return to the Sussex downs a fruitful venture today.

The selection raced a little exuberantly in the early stages and hit a flat spot before powering home late on to finish within three-quarters of a length of the resurgent Arc Zoosvie who has enhanced the form with another smooth success at Lingfield subsequently.  

Connections will no doubt be hoping Sax Appeal goes a good gallop to help St Mawes settle and finish off his race and the booking of Sean Levey looks a positive move in that respect.

Trainer Emma Lavelle has left off the visor this time so there must be a view that the Wootton Bassett gelding is putting it all in these days and he has certainly turned a corner since being gelded so that faith may be vindicated here.

Haydock, 16.40 - Back Oathbound @ 8/19.00

Trainer William Haggas has a raft of classy three-year-olds at his disposal this summer and I doubt Oathbound even registers in the top 25.

However, the son of Guineas winner Kameko appears to have been offered a potentially lenient opening handicap mark by the assessor and could prove the answer to this modest Class 5 affair before going on to better things.

You did not need to be an expert race reader to take note of the selection's reappearance effort at Wetherby behind prohibitively priced stablemate Princling who is now rated 87 and is entered in the prestigious Silver Bowl Handicap at the north west venue on Saturday.

Unsurprisingly, given his sluggish start, Oathbound was the second slowest on the RaceiQ metric to reach 20mph, but his finishing speed percentage was third on the list behind Princling and runner-up Ervani which suggests the step up in trip to today's distance will suit ideally.

The Newmarket raider is related to both South Seas - a Group 3 winner for the Balding operation - and Long Ago who win twice over ten furlongs for intial trainer Sir Michael Stoute so a mark of 71 should be exploitable over a trip which looks ideal.

Now read Katie Midwinter's latest horse racing tips here