Can the Captain claim victory? The best horse racing tip of the day.

CAPTAIN IVAN 5.00pm Haydock (9/2 at time of writing)

From Saturday’s bumper Easter Saturday card, the word from Tipstrr HQ is that Captain Ivan looks poised to strike in Haydock’s last race of the day at 5.00pm, a competitive-looking 2½-mile chase.

After landing back-to -back successes over shorter two-mile trips last summer, it took Captain Ivan a few outings to hit his stride over the winter, but a step-up in distance saw him bounce back to winning ways at Market Rasen in February.

Having kept up with the early pace, the 11-year-old seemed to relish the extra half-mile and asserted control from the last obstacle to put 1½ lengths between himself and the even-money favourite at the line.

Captain Ivan was last seen reverting to the shorter two-mile trip four weeks ago at Carlisle, where he gave another good account of himself to finish runner-up of 10 in a much stronger Class 2 handicap.

Stepping back up to his last winning distance, he returns to Class 4 company here and looks set to reward the faith of trainer Ewan Phillans in sending his only runner of the day on a 300-mile round trip.

Danny McMenamin takes Captain Ivan’s reins for the first time, with the jockey looking to extend a purple patch that saw three runner-up spots crowned with a winner when last in action at Hexham on Monday.

The obvious danger lies in The Paddy Pie, who has won all three of his 2025 outings, but the consensus among Tipstrr’s pundits is thatCaptain Ivanwill be giving us a run for our money down the stretch.

Enjoy the racing, good luck with your bets and always gamble responsibly.