Horse racing tips: James Boyle's best bets for Saturday

Horse racing tips today:

• 14:40 Ascot – Hickory – 1.50pts e/w @ 9/1 with Bet365
• 16:55 Ascot – Expert Agent – 1pt e/w @ 18/1 with William Hill

For today's horse racing tips, our analyst James Boyle looks at the flat racing meeting at Ascot with two selections online.

As always, you’ll find up-to-date odds at the bookmakers, but our tipster’s predictions are researched early in the day and those prices could soon be moved in by the betting public. 

Odds stated are correct at the time of publishing, but check out today's racecards for all the latest movements. 

14:40 Ascot – Hickory – 1.50pts e/w @ 9/1

Hickory had a slow start to life on the track, only seen once as a juvenile and then ran twice at four. He clearly has a lot of ability, however, having won all of those starts and he then managed a proper season in 2023. No wins came his way but he posted multiple big efforts, including over C&D.

A visor went on for the first time when he finished second in the 25-runner International handicap and I thought he could have done even better there if he was racing among horses, rather than being on the wing of his group. He’s only 2lbs higher and it’s form that puts him in the equation.

He made a solid return to action at Kempton last month, finishing second despite going without the visor, and will likely step forward from it. Whether his draw is a positive or negative remains to be seen but if he runs to his best level, he’ll be involved and there are six places up for grabs.

16:55 Ascot – Expert Agent – 1pt e/w @ 18/1

Expert Agent was progressive early last year, winning a hat-trick of All-Weather handicaps following a gelding operation. He looked likely to take that improvement onto the turf but despite running a number of good races from his higher mark, he couldn’t score again.

He moved to Stuart Williams’ yard over the winter and has since come down 8lbs in the weights to 76. That makes him interesting and I thought he shaped with promise at Windsor last time, beaten little more than a couple of lengths having tried to come from off the speed.

The switch over to a stiffer venue could give him a chance to rattle home as the leaders are tiring and he hasn’t faced a test like this all too often. Neil Callan is a good booking, there’s some speed drawn nearby and he’ll like the ground. Hopefully he can put his best foot forward.

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