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1630: Winner for Ian Williams at Sandown, with The Statesman scoring under Martyn Dwyer at 15/2. Disappointment of the race was Jeremy Noseda's Intrepidly, who failed to pick up in the straight for Ryan Moore.

1612: Popular winner for David Thompson as Visitant lands some hefty support as the 3/1 jolly. James Doyle took a while to get him settled but had the race won a couple of furlongs from home. Job done, and considering how difficult this York card looked at the start of the day, punters have pretty well all.

1602: The 1605 at York is another open handicap heat and Visitant is pretty short around the 7/2 chance. Given the day the Easterbys are having you can imagine Quick N Quirky going well at 25s.

1556: Jim Goldie gets on the board at Musselburgh with Great Fighter in the 1545, while Greenside (13/8 fav) lands strong market support at Sandown under Ryan Moore. Greenside another winner for our increasingly popular Catching Pigeons column.

1540: This may not come as a shock to anyone: No Pick 7 jackpot winner this afternoon.

1538: It's agony for sportinglife racing followers as Tim Easterby's Golden Apollo swoops late to beat The Wagon Wheel (Matt Brocklebank ew selection) with Value Bet ew pick Justanotherbottle third.

Mark Johnston's Poet's Society got the better of the favourite for fourth.

A bit harsh on Justanotherbottle, who battled past Carlton Frankie and looked to have the race won, only to lose out late in the day.

1527: Big handicaps coming thick and fast on this busy Saturday and the Catherine Kinloch Paver Memorial Macmillan Charity Handicap is probably the biggest of the lot.

Ben Linfoot goes for Justanotherbottle as he attempts to make it 2-2 from his preview.

The betting is headed by Ekhtiyaar who is rock-solid at the top of the market. He's gone up 5lb for winning narrowly on easy ground at Newmarket and is obviously expected to relish the return to a fast surface.

Carlton Frankie is also well-regarded and Wahash could be an interesting runner for Richard Hannon and Al Shaqab Racing.

1522: Close, with Burrishoole Abbey (20/1) edging out Black Trilby (100/30) in a tight finish to the Randox Handicap.

Love Dreams attempted to make all but just ran out of gas, while eventual third Battered came with every chance but wandered to his left under pressure. A return to softer ground bound suit William Haggas' charge.

1516: A good day for trainer Paul Midgely just got better as the well-treated Line Of Reason flies home to pip Harry Hurricane. Kimberella and Caspian Prince filled the places.

Not the finest hour for Rachael Richardson on Orion's Bow, who was all dressed up with nowhere to go and ultimately passed the post with a handful of rein.

1505: The William Hill Scottish Sprint Cup Handicap coming up at 1510 at Musselburgh and it's a seriously puzzling contest.

The veteran Duke Of Firenze is 2lb ahead of the handicapper after running so well in the Epsom "Dash" since the weights for today were revealed. He's the general 6/1 market leader, closely followed by Orions Bow at 7s and Gamesome 8s.

1500: A boost for Godolphin now as Arabian Hope scores for Saeed bin Suroor and Josephine Gordon.

It's not been an easy time for Bin Suroor and the whole Godolphin operation but this improving three-year-old filly has overcome the fact she was the lowest-rated horse going into the field.

Fran Berry almost judged it perfectly from the front on Golden Stunner but just missed out, with Thikriyaat running on down the outside to claim third.

It was confirmed yesterday that Gordon rides Gymnaste as John Gosden and Cheveley Park Stud go for back-to-back wins in the Royal Ascot contest.

1450: The Best Western Hotels Ganton Stakes up next at York and David O'Meara is at the track to see his pair Custon Cut and Mondialiste in action.

Hard to gather who he fancies more, but he sounds positive.

The positives in the betting are Spark Plug (100/30) and Golden Stunner, who was around 10s this morning but is no bigger than 5/1 as they go to post.

Our Matt Brocklebank has gone for Sir Michael Stoute's Thikriyaat.

1444: Battaash, making his seasonal return, bolts up for Charlie Hills and Dane O'Neill. Hills hasn't made a brilliant start to the season but this is clearly a timely boost before next week. Battaash returns 11/1, with 25/1 outsider Koropick taking second ahead of 7/2 fav Copper Knight.

1439: Back to Musselburgh and the odds-on favourite Khamaary is turned over by 10/1 chance Lincoln Rocks in the mile handicap for fillies.

The top-weight showed real guts to fight back and see off the heavily-supported favourite.

Meanwhile, Ardad popular in the Scurry Stakes at Sandown. Copper Knight and Fashion Queen others need the top of the betting for the Listed event over five furlongs and 10 yards.

1428: Winner! Brilliant stuff once again from our Ben Linfoot, whose nap of the day Viscount Barfield goes in at 11/1.

Flagged up at 16/1 in Value Bet yesterday, he came from near the back to wear down eventual third Salateen, who looked to be travelling best a furlong out, with Mutawathea running on to claim second.

One more Value Bet selection still to come - Justanotherbottle in the feature sprint handicap on the Knavesmire at 3.30.

1415: The first of Ben Linfoot's Value Bet selections, Viscount Barfield, coming up in the next at York.

The Andrew Balding-trained runner is also Ben's nap of the day and he's a well-backed 10/1 chance.

1413: Rio Ronaldo misses the break at Sandown but storms home from near the back to land the five furlong handicap. No mean feat at Sandown, where a prominent position looked absolutely paramount yesterday.

The well-backed 5/2 fav beats outsider Royal Mezyan.

1409: Paul Midgley is a dab hand with his sprint handicappers and Orient Class, drawn in the middle in nine, wins the 2.05. Stalls 14 (Zac Brown) and seven (Showdaisy) filled the places.

Sky Bet are refunding all bets on Paddy Power, who lost jockey Sammy Jo Bell soon after the stalls opened.

1401: Consolation race for the big Sprint Cup coming up at Musselburgh and we should get a good idea where might be the best place to be drawn in the feature.

Highly Sprung, housed in stall 12, might be able to outrun his price. 

1357: Tapis Libre does the business at 8/1 in the Queen Mother's Cup. They went a very strong gallop out there but all fairness to the winner who was sat fourth of fifth all the way and found plenty for pressure after taking it up in the straight.

It's another victory for the Easterbys in many ways, with Tapis Libre trained by Mick Easterby's neice and ridden by his granddaughter.

Mukhayyam ran on for second but may just have been set a fraction too much to do by Emily Easterby on the Tim Easterby-trained favourite.

That's a whole lotta Easterby in one blog post.

1348: Postive word for Tapis Libre on Racing UK ahead of the Queen Mother's Cup. He was third in this last year and returns off a 3lb lower mark for Jacqueline Coward and Joanna Mason. Best of luck.

1345: Don't miss Sky Bet's First Race Special in the upcoming 1350 at York.

The Leeds-based firm are paying FIVE places on each-way bets.

Check out all the runners and riders and place your wagers right here.

1338: It's victory for Roland Rocks at Musselburgh, making a winning debut for John Ryan under Cam Hardie.

He was the only newcomer in the race and sent off 20/1 but came home strongly having been slowly out of the gate.

Back-to-back wins for Hardie who signed off at York yesterday with victory on Be Kool in the seven-furlong handicap.

Fast results page the place to be today for all the... well, all the fast result.

1330: The opener at York on MacMillan Charity day is the Queen Mother's Cup Handicap for lady amateur riders and local trainer Tim Easterby goes for a fourth victory in seven years.

He's represented by Mukhayyam, with uncle Mick Easterby running Purple Rock.

Could be an interesting day for Mick, who has seven in total to York including rapidly-improvin filly Carlton Frankie in the feature Catherine Kinloch Paver Memorial Macmillan Charity Handicap.

However, the really interesting one could be Charismatic Man for Ralph Beckett and Lisa O'Neill.

1312: Less than half an hour to the first race which sees Bryan Smart's Palmer bid to open his account at the third time of asking in the EBF Stallions Maiden Stakes (1335) at Musselburgh.

There are some interesting ones in against him, not least Shobrom for Richard Fahey, but Palmer's York form (third to Santry) has worked out very well since and any further improvement should make him very hard to beat.

The quicker ground today could be a slight issue as it was soft last time and good to firm when he was well held first time out at Pontefract, but overall the form is excellent.

Santry can be backed at 7/1 with Sky Bet for next week's Norfolk Stakes.

1302: On the subject of the French Oaks, here's a lovely runner-by-runner guide to tomorrow's field.

1246: Could Ryan Moore be in for a similar day at Sandown to the one enjoyed by Silvestre De Sousa yesterday?

Widely regarded as the best jockey in Britain and Ireland, if not the world, Moore starts his day with rides on Fashion Queen for David O'Meara in the Listed Scurry Stakes, the well-backed Battered in the Randox Handicap, followed by the similarly short Greenside (Henry Candy), Intrepidly (Jeremy Noseda) and Bristol Missile (Richard Hannon).

He finishes on the Joseph Tuite-trained Machine Learned in the 5.35, presumably before making plans to jet off to France in order to partner Rhododendron in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly tomorrow.

It's that time of year when jockeys' agents are working overtime and Moore obviously has a nice spread of opportunities for various trainers this afternoon.

Intrepidly has worked particularly well this week, according to our Catching Pigeons inder.

1230: Views from connections - check out what some of the trainers think of their chances in a couple of today's main races.

William Hill Scottish Sprint Cup Handicap at Musselburgh

Key quote: "I think he's definitely improving and it could possibly be his last time in a handicap. He's up to 109 now so he'll have to go for Group races."
David Griffiths on Duke Of Firenze 

Best Western Hotels Ganton Stakes at York

Key quote: "Mondialiste is in good form and ran well in the Brigadier Gerard to finish fourth. Coming back to a mile shouldn't be a problem for him - he's got plenty of boot for that."
David O'Meara on Mondialiste 

1223: Some interesting market movers coming through from Sky Bet, including the aforementioned SDS York mount Money Team, who is 12/1 from 18s in the 1715.

Check out all the movers, racing Price Boosts and a tip from the traders by clicking here.

1218: Don't forget to remain well hydrated if you're out and about or at the racecourse this afternoon.

And I mean water... don't be that guy asleep in the baking sun before the first race.

1158: It looked like the Flat Jockeys' Championship could be quite an interesting battle at the start of the season but an outrageous last few days from Silvestre De Sousa has seen the red-hot Brazilian streak into a clear lead, 16 clear of reigning champ Jim Crowley.

De Sousa banged in a four-timer at Yarmouth on Wednesday and went one better with five winners from his six rides at Sandown yesterday. Staggering stuff.

He starts off at York today before heading to Lingfield this evening and has seven booked rides in total, the likes of Above The Rest, Danielsflyer and Money Team are still available at double-figure odds.

Anyone tempted by a few cross doubles or trebles?

Sky Bet have enhanced the odds on him riding a double on the Knavesmire from 5/1 to 7/1. Click here to check out all today's jockey specials and racing RequestABets.

1147: Ever fancied winning £100,000 without having to shell out a penny? Me too. 

We've already given away a considerable amount of cash this year courtesy of the Pick 7 game and you could genuinely be next to win big.

Click here to find out more, make your selections and track the leaderboard throughout the day.

Best of luck to all entrants.

1135: Getting a bit bogged down in all the meetings today? Our team of experts were beavering away through yesterday afternoon attempting to unearth some of the best bets to be had.

And here are the previews they've come up with:

Ben Linfoot's Value Bet - our flagship racing tipster is very keen on the Andrew Balding-trained Viscount Barfield in York's 2.20.

Murt Khan's Breaking It Down - our daily tipster made 30pts profit in May and is already in the black for June following a decent winner (drifted to 8/1 BOG) yesterday.

Matt Brocklebank's Preview - Simon Holt is away this week but we've got three fancies from our very own Matt Brocklebank instead.

Catching Pigeons - the popular column has a whole host of suggestions after work-watching through the week.

Ashley Iveson selections - want a tip for every race in the UK and Ireland today? Look no further as the Press Association's reporter guides you through the cards.

1127: You may have already noticed, but it's red-hot out there in the sunshine and it seems the drying ground all over the country has sparked a few connections to take steps. There are plenty of non-runners and we'll attempt to keep on top of them all on this page of the site.

Hexham, meanwhile, remains good, good to soft in places. Long live Hexham.

1122: Berry gave Golden Stunner a peach of a ride to win on the Knavesmire last month and the filly is back in Yorkshire in an attempt to pick up some black type in the Listed Ganton Stakes (1455), one of the York features today.

It's one heck of a race for the grade, with seven of the nine left in rated at least 100 and some familiar old faces in the shape of Custom Cut, Mondialiste and Gabrial.

The latter is one of a host of runners for our star columnist Richard Fahey and you can check out his guide to today's team right here.

1117: Aside from our own editor Dave Ord featuring on The Opening Show again this morning the big news filtering through is that Fran Berry has parted company with Ralph Beckett "by mutual consent".

We obviously wish our columnist the very best of luck with whatever challenges he looks to take on next.

And you can follow this link to check out his thoughts on today's rides at York.

1115: Good morning and welcome along to the sportinglife racing blog on another busy Saturday for the 'sport of kings'.

With high-class meetings at York, Sandown and Musselburgh - all of which feature in ITV Racing's live coverage this afternoon - there's lots to get stuck into and we'll attempt to provide you a picture of what's going on up and down the land as it all unfolds, while hopefully identifying one or two winners along the way.