Tag: Newbury

Newbury Preview 20th July

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Super Sprint

Saturday’s Newbury card features the Super Sprint a.k.a. The Richard Hannon Benefit Stakes. He has won this two-year-old cavalry charge on no fewer than seven occasions! The first three winners of this race were Paris House, Lyric Fantasy and Risky, although the overall standard has dropped a little since.

According to the market, Lilbourne Lass is the one to be on from team Hannon this year. She is priced around the 3-1 mark in this huge field. That seems rather short to me for a horse with two victories at Bath and a defeat at Windsor to her name.

I had quite a strong tip for Alutiq for this race, the mount of Cathy Gannon. Her run at Ascot behind Rizeena wasn’t at all bad and she’s well drawn. I was hoping for around 10-1 but the best price is now a rather miserly 6-1. I’m just put off by the cramped odds when so much can go wrong in a big field over five furlongs so I’m having a saver on Lexington Rose. She won’t hang about here and Brian Smart almost pulled off a nice win with Moviesta for us last week.

Hackwood Stakes

The Hackwood Stakes has attracted a small but select field with Krypton Factor likely to go off favourite. I’ve been following Heeraat this season and was disappointed that he got turned over by Hamza at Beverley. He looked certain to win at York last week under a quiet ride from Graham Lee but got mugged on the line. I’m prepared to give Heeraat one more chance.

Day’s best bet

My best bet of the day is Music Master in the 4.25. I backed this one each-way in the Jersey Stakes and he eventually finished fifth to Gale Force Ten. Things didn’t really go his way as he had to race up with the pace on the stands side and faded near the finish. He had previously separated Dundonnell and Baltic Knight at Newmarket over this trip and he only needs to perform at that level to win on Saturday.

Alutiq 6-1 Boylesports
Lexington Rose (each-way) 10-1 Ladbrokes

Heeraat 3-1 William Hill

Music Master (NAP) 10-11 Bet365

Ascot Victoria Cup Preview May 11th

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After the tight turns of Chester we are back to a straight seven furlong contest at Ascot for the feature event on Saturday. The Victoria Cup is a competitive handicap with a maximum field of 29 runners with the bookmakers going 10-1 the field on Thursday.

The obvious market leader is Newbury Spring Cup winner Haaf A Sixpence. He tracked front-running Dream Tune through the first seven furlongs before going on to grab the spoils. The race looked top class with several of the Lincoln runners finishing behind him and it was a game effort. His style of racing suggests that the drop back to seven furlongs won’t inconvenience him. He has been given a 5lb penalty for that success and looks sure to run well although he may find Dream Tune harder to pass this time.

Dream Tune has been tried over a variety of distances from six to ten furlongs by Clive Cox but that latest run suggested seven furlongs could see him at his best. He has been drawn in stall two so you would expect him to bounce out and race prominently as he did at Newbury. Ryan Tate has been booked and takes off a handy five pounds, putting him 10lb better off at the weights with Haaf A Sixpence. He only weakened in the closing stages at Newbury and lost two places in the final 50 yards so it is not difficult to imagine him playing a prominent role over a shorter trip. At 16-1 he must have each-way claims.

Another leading contender is the progressive four-year-old Tartiflette who ran out an impressive winner at Haydock without her rider having to resort to the stick. She had Cape Classic and Highland Colori behind her that day and she looks capable of confirming the form despite a 6lb rise in the weights. Charlie Hills is making a good job of stepping into his father’s shoes and was unlucky not to win the 1000 Guineas last Sunday with Just The Judge. He saddles Glen Moss who ran on well at Kempton on the all-weather last time and looks capable of picking up a decent handicap this season.

With the draw certain to be a factor, it may be worth hedging your bets with a runner on each side and I’m keen on the chances of Ascot regular Lightning Cloud. Kevin Ryan’s consistent grey ran at this venue four times last season including when fifth in this race and a close third over the same trip in October. He runs particularly well for Amy Ryan and looked a certain future winner when finishing a close third at Thirsk on his seasonal debut. He looked to have plenty of ground to make up turning for home but was flying at the finish and would have got up in another couple of strides. He should be spot on for Saturday and 14-1 looks an attractive each-way price.

There are plenty of dangers including Jamesie who ran well in a couple of big handicaps last season and will have been sharpened up by his head defeat at Dundalk. I shall stick with Lightning Cloud and Dream Tune against the field.

Lightning Cloud (each-way) 14-1 Bet Victor
Dream Tune (each-way) 16-1 Skybet

Ayr & Newbury April 20th Preview

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A dead-heat for Sandy Lane (2-1) on Thursday extended our winning run to four following Move In Time (9-1), Gabrial (4-1) and Garswood (5-2). It can’t possibly last can it? We are already on Global Village at 11-1 for the Newbury Spring Cup and he looks sure to give us a good run for our money.

Having looked at the final declarations for the Newbury race, I cannot understand why Justonefortheroad is freely available at 20-1 and as high as 26-1 on Betfair. He also ran a cracker in the Lincoln but did not quite have the finishing kick displayed by Levitate and Global Village. With such a large field, the draw is bound to come into play. Global Village is in stall 7 whilst Justonefortheroad is in 23. I think a bit of each-way support on the Fahey horse makes sense.

A fascinating card also includes Guineas trials and the Group 3 Dubai Duty Free Stakes (better known as the John Porter). Sir Henry Cecil could hardly have had a better week and there will be plenty of support for Noble Mission on his seasonal debut. He faces some useful opponents including Guarantee, well beaten in the Leger last time, and Model Pupil. The latter has got the assistance of Ryan Moore and is being spoken of as a possible Cup horse this season.

The classic fillies on show include Rosdhu Queen and Maureen. The seventh furlong is unknown territory for both and these trials don’t always go to plan. I’m happy to sit this one out and the colts trial looks like a match between Olympic Glory and Moohajim. Richard Hannon’s colt will go off favourite after stable companion Toronado ran away with the Craven this week but I have a lot of respect for Moohajim. He looked likely to win at Newmarket last time but was just denied by the battling Reckless Abandon. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him enter the Guineas picture here.

The going has played havoc with running plans for the Scottish National at Ayr with my ante-post selections taken out after heavy rain this week. The going is currently officially soft and I can report a warm drying day up in Scotland today (Make a note of it, there aren’t that many!). After 50-1 and 66-1 winners in the Irish and English Nationals, it would not surprise me one bit if there is another upset tomorrow.

Of more interest from a punting point of view is the reappearance of Grumeti in the Scottish Champion Hurdle. He was right up there with the best as a juvenile but has been kept off the track this season. Alan King would not run him here if he didn’t feel that he was fit enough to do himself justice and I think the 5-1 with William Hill looks good value.

Justonefortheroad 26-1 Betfair
Grumeti 5-1 William Hill

Newbury Spring Cup Preview

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The Lincoln form comes under scrutiny this weekend as several of the leading protagonists renew rivalry in the Newbury Spring Cup. Levitate came out on top at Town Moor from the fast finishing Global Village with Brae Hill just behind in third and Justonefortheroad fourth. Admittedly you covered all four with a large blanket and Chapter Seven (6th) wasn’t far away either. It could be argued that the form may not amount to much with such a bunched finish but there are reasons for believing otherwise.

It was the performance of Global Village that stood out for me. He was held up at the back by jockey Martin Lane and looked to have an impossible task two furlongs out. However, he picked up remarkably well and would have won in another stride. The eight-year-old had gone into a few notebooks when not gaining the clearest of runs in the Wolverhampton Lincoln Trial, eventually finishing sixth to Strictly Silver and Guest Of Honour. On that basis, he was a quietly fancied 14-1 shot in the Lincoln and produced a career best effort. It may seem unlikely that he would be improving at this stage of his career but he finished third in this race 12 months ago behind Captain Bertie and looks primed for another big run. The booking of Kieren Fallon suggests that he is strongly fancied on Saturday and the 11-1 available with Totesport looks good value.

There are plenty of dangers including Spring Mile winner Educate and a big field won’t make it easy for Fallon to weave his way through. Richard Fahey’s stable remains in fine form so you would expect Brae Hill and Justonefortheroad to be competitive once again but I will side with Global Village on this occasion.

I previewed the Scottish National last week and, as expected, most of the horses that ran at Aintree have been withdrawn. Two of my original selections have stood their ground with Quentin Collonges and Mr Moss advised at 14-1 and 20-1 respectively. At the time of writing it is still the plan to run Aurora’s Encore under his big weight but he could be withdrawn if the going turns soft.

The main racing story today is the retirement of Black Caviar. The mare has been retired to the paddocks having remained unbeaten in 25 races including the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer. The announcement came as a surprise to many and dashes hopes of seeing her return to Britain. When you consider the journey that she had to make, the injuries she sustained during the race and the fact that the jockey eased up too soon, her victory at the Royal meeting was no mean achievement. I think she was unfairly compared to Frankel by the racing press and did not receive the acclaim that she deserved that day. Both are now consigned to the history books as we look forward to some new stars on the racing scene.

Global Village 11-1 Newbury Spring Cup Totesport