Tag: Newmarket

Newmarket Saturday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Things have been very quiet on the racing front this week following Royal Ascot but the Irish Derby and some excellent action from Newcastle and Newmarket should bring some entertainment. Punters could do with a break from all of the amateur dramatics from the World Cup!

Ryan Moore and William Buick dominated proceedings at Royal Ascot and it would be no surprise to see them both among the winners on Saturday. Moore has a full book of rides and is employed by seven different trainers while Buick is kept busy by the powerful Gosden and Appleby yards.

There are some speedy fillies in the Listed two-year-old race at 2.20 with Moore riding Tigrilla for Roger Varian. The favourite will be Littlemissblakeney who was fifth in the Queen Mary but Zeb Un Misa and Accipiter also look smart. Moore’s mount is just preferred after travelling nicely last time out at Haydock.

Unless the rains arrive, I think Battalion will be taken out of the Fred Archer Stakes which would leave the way clear for Gatewood and Buick. The six-year-old has done well to get back on track after his abortive attempt at the Melbourne Cup and could have the class to defy his 3lbs penalty.

Richard Fahey has finally resorted to blinkers for Gatewood in the Group 3 Criterion Stakes and it remains to be seen if that makes life any easier for his jockey. Moore managed to get him home at Goodwood last season and this should be the right trip. Gregorian probably needed his run at Epsom last time and could be yet another for Gosden.

Manderley looks difficult to oppose in the Listed Eternal Stakes having followed up her fourth in the 1000 Guineas with an effortless win in maiden company. Gosden and Buick have another fine chance with Seagull in the 4.40. She won over a mile and a quarter and was always going to find it tough dropping back to a mile last time. She did well to finish second and should relish going up to a mile and a half on Saturday.

Llanarmon Lad struggled with the camber at Epsom last time but finished strongly to be second to Abseil. Kieren Fallon did the pushing that day and Ryan Moore takes over in the 5.15 here. Most of the opposition have been running below par recently and Llanarmon Lad can go one better.

Tigrilla 2.20  at 100-30 BetVictor

Gatewood 2.55 at 4-1 BetVictor, Paddy Power

Gregorian 3.30 at 11-2 William Hill

Manderley 4.05 at 11-4 BetVictor

Seagull 4.40 at 15-8 Bet365

Llanarmon Lad 5.15 at 7-2 BetVictor, Coral

Newmarket Saturday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Wonderstruck (11-4) kept us in profit on Friday when eclipsing the £2.6 million colt Hydrogen. It will be interesting to see where they go next with Qatar Racing’s record purchase but we are not quite talking Snaafi Dancer just yet!

Tomorrow offers a glut of tricky handicaps and stakes races at Newmarket, York and Haydock. There are some very competitive fields, in total contrast to the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown on Thursday night. I think that must be a contender for the weakest Group 3 race in living memory and it must have been very frustrating for the race planners.

I was surprised by the decision to pull out Remote after Hillstar had already been withdrawn, especially after John Gosden had taken a chance with Kingman last week at the Curragh. He was rewarded there with a classic victory.

Top Tug reminded us just how much Sir Michael Stoute’s horses can improve from their first run of the season and I’m looking to Rye House to do the same tomorrow. He won impressively at York last season but never made it back to the track. He did not get the clearest of runs at York on his return behind Clever Cookie but showed enough to warrant support at Newmarket tomorrow. Soft ground won’t bother him and it is just a matter of whether or not he is good enough to win off a mark of 98.

My other selection for Newmarket is more speculative. I’m taking a chance on Picture Dealer in the sprint, although I do have slight reservations about the ground. He ran a race packed full of promise when finishing in midfield at York first time out and he looks just the sort to bag a nice prize this season. He did win on soft ground at Brighton in 2012 but his most recent victories have come on a faster surface.

York looks fiendishly difficult so I’m going to bypass that meeting and look to Haydock instead. The seven furlong race looks quite a hot contest with the likes of Tawhid and Garswood entered. They are both talented horses who have yet to fulfil their potential. The same cannot be said of Eton Forever who is a real seven-furlong specialist and looks the safest option at around 9-2.

Eton Forever 2.40 Haydock at 9-2 Totesport

Picture Dealer 3.00 Newmarket at 16-1 Totesport, Ladbrokes

Rye House 3.35 Newmarket at 3-1 Paddy Power

Newmarket Friday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Friday’s Newmarket card should finally see the much-hyped £2.6million colt Hydrogen make his racecourse debut. Qatar Racing purchased the record breaking son of Galileo and placed him in the care of two-time Epsom Derby winning trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam.

A couple of relatively minor setbacks have prevented him from seeing a racetrack and it will not have been the plan for him to be making his debut just a week before the Derby. He still holds an entry for Epsom but he would have to win by half the track to take up that engagement with Chapple-Hyam likely to rely on Arod.

For those of us that are old enough to remember Snaafi Dancer, there must be some trepidation for connections ahead of tomorrow’s maiden race. Snaafi Dancer cost $10.2million and never ran, eventually proving to be a flop at stud. There will be no prizes for the headline writers if Hydrogen proves to be a similarly expensive flop!

In terms of a betting race, I am more interested in Wonderstruck who was third in a good maiden at Ascot behind Goodwood Oaks Trial winner Marsh Daisy. The runner-up has been beaten in a photo and the fourth has won since so the form looks rock solid.

Kieren Fallon seems to be flavour of the month with Godolphin. It is probably as much of a mystery to him as it is to everyone else but he will make the most of it. He has cracking rides lined up for Epsom next week and can chalk up another success aboard Famous Kid in the 4.15. Thirsk might not seem the obvious place to go for a Godolphin horse but a certain Farhh won the Thirsk Hunt Cup by six lengths in 2012 and he turned out to be quite good!

I am not suggesting that Famous Name is likely to prove to be that good but he can take the handicap off a mark of 91. Cloudscape could be the danger if he returns to his early season form but he ran too badly to be true last time out.

Earlier in the day I like the chances of Much Promise in the six-furlong handicap. The daughter of Invincible Spirit ran into some useful sorts as a juvenile, finishing behind Along Again, Valonia and Magnus Maximus. She made no mistake at Kempton in November over this trip and looks on a decent mark

Much Promise 2.30 Newmarket at 6-1 Ladbrokes

Wonderstruck 3.05 Newmarket

Famous Kid 4.15 Newmarket at 9-2 Coral, William Hill

Newmarket Saturday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Coral Sprint at Newmarket has been quite a successful event for me in the past with some useful three-year-olds competing over six furlongs.

Trainer Roger Charlton sets us a poser by running both Stomp and Stars Above Me. The latter was all the rage for a Newmarket handicap at the Guineas meeting and looked to be travelling easily with a furlong to travel. She did not find as much as Buick expected and changed her legs in the closing stages, perhaps resenting the quicker ground.

The going is expected to be just on the fast side of good on Saturday so it should be a close call in a re-match with the winner Nova Champ. The going is also a slight concern with Stomp who burst through to win easily at Lingfield having previously won on soft going at Windsor. Stomp has been raised 8lbs but that may not be enough to prevent him completing a hat-trick.

Parbold is yet another that might prefer easier ground when he lines up in the King Charles II Stakes. He didn’t run badly on his seasonal debut but I remember Richard Fahey saying that the going was a bit quick for him at Royal Ascot last year. He’s top rated on official figures but there is just a lingering doubt in my mind.

Ahead of him at Newmarket was Aeolus, a colt by Araafa trained by Ed McMahon. He looked a shade unlucky to beaten just half a length into third after meeting trouble in running. He was second to shock 2000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder at Doncaster on soft ground in October, a far better run that it appeared at the time. He looks the form choice.

Punters of a certain vintage will remember a horse called Miner’s Lamp rattling off a sequence of handicap wins for Robert Sangster, Barry Hills and Steve Cauthen. The name is now carried by another useful colt by Shamardal who runs in the blue of Godolphin.

He ran well enough here when second to Zee Zeely to suggest that he can go one better in the 5.15 race on Saturday. There are a few promising types in opposition including seven-length winner Talmada. To be fair it was only a four-runner race but her third to Bright Approach at Newbury was a fair effort and she is set to receive 8lbs from Miner’s Lamp. That could be decisive.

Aeolus 2.55 Newmarket at 4-1 William Hill

Stomp 3.30 Newmarket at 3-1 BetVictor

Talmada 5.15 Newmarket at 9-4 BetVictor

Newmarket Guineas Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

After months of anticipation, Guineas weekend is upon us! I broke with tradition by placing two bets on the 2000 Guineas before June was out last summer and both have made it to the final line up. That is an achievement in itself but I’m very confident that Kingman can win the season’s first classic.

2000 Guineas

Our ante-post book looks remarkably healthy. Kingman was advised in this column at 14-1 after his impressive debut while War Command was tipped at 10-1 after Royal Ascot. The latter has been overshadowed by stable companion Australia in the build-up but his price has contracted significantly in recent days and it would not surprise me to see him prove the pick of the O’Brien runners.

I topped off our portfolio last week by suggesting that Outstrip was over-priced at 56-1 with Betfair. The grey has a great finishing kick as he showed in the Breeders’ Cup and a repeat of that performance would certainly put him in the frame here.

There are plenty of dangers, notably Craven winner Toormore who remains unbeaten. He could only beat what was put in front of him that day and is closely matched with Outstrip on Goodwood form from last season. I’m happy to let our horses run with adding any further investment.

Kingman 14-1*

War Command 10-1*

Outstrip 56-1*

1000 Guineas

A huge field of 19 go to post for the fillies classic on Sunday and our hopes are firmly pinned to the Ihtimal mast. My regular followers will know that she has done us proud in the past and I see no reason to desert her now.

Her victory in the UAE Oaks was very impressive, quickening clear in the style of a smart performer. For some reason she has not captured the imagination of the betting public and is still available at an each-way price. I first tipped her at 16-1 and then followed up at 10-1 last week.

I did consider Rizeena last season but felt that Ihtimal was more likely to truly stay the Newmarket mile. I still cannot see how Rizeena can be less than half of the price of Ihtimal. Miss France was bitterly disappointing first time out and Vorda looks like a sprinter for all the world. Tapestry and Bracelet are more likely dangers but I remain confident in Ihtimal.

Ihtimal at 16-1 and 10-1*

*Ante-post advice

2000 Guineas Ante-Post Update

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The 2000 Guineas picture has been pretty static since Kingman annihilated his field in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury. He is a best priced 11-8 at the moment and I cannot see him getting much bigger than that.

I tipped Kingman at 14-1 after his win in a Newmarket maiden back in June last year. I remember questioning my sanity at the time as I had already re-invested some of my Royal Ascot winnings on War Command. I cannot ever remember backing horses so early for the 2000 Guineas.

In the case of War Command, you’d have thought that going on to win a Dewhurst would have ensured his place among the favourites but not a bit of it. Aidan O’Brien’s glowing praise of Australia has left him as the clear stable favourite with War Command eased out to around 16-1. Hopefully he will still take his chance but there has not been much in the way of confidence emanating from Ballydoyle about his chances.

Toormore’s Craven victory was workmanlike rather than spectacular and he has been easy to back at around 7-1 since. You could make a good case for him as an each-way bet at those odds. He may not have been suited by having to make his own pace that day and at least we know that he is fit. However, his run just did not excite onlookers in the way that Kingman did.

There is one strange anomaly in the ante-post betting and that is that Betfair are showing 56-1 about Godolphin’s Outstrip. There appears to be a cool dismissal about the Godolphin horses as I cannot believe that Ihtimal is still such a big price for the Guineas and Oaks after her brilliant Meydan win in the UAE Oaks.

Outstrip was unlucky to be caught by Toormore at Goodwood as he hit the front plenty soon enough. Richard Hughes made the victory look far easier than it actually was and I don’t believe there will ultimately prove to be much between the pair as three-year-olds. Outstrip went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with a late swoop and that is the style of racing that suits the grey best. He may prove no match for Kingman but he is no 56-1 chance.

Outstrip at 56-1 Betfair

*Kingman at 14-1

*War Command at 10-1

*Ante-post advice