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The Showcase Trophy is a 3m handicap chase that has a few talented runners lining up here. One of the more recognizable names is Balthazar King and he’s already gotten things off to a promising start this season winning on his seasonal debut. While he appears to lead the market right now with an 11/2 price tag, we will be opting for Vif Argent here as the lightly-raced gelding shifts over from France for David Pipe and goes immediately to Tom Scudamore.
The second contest is a 2m4f handicap chase that has plenty of possible contenders in the mix with Woolcombe Folly sitting at the top end of the handicap despite only really hitting the board in recent contests. The ones to watch here look to be the talented Astracad - a jumper from the Twiston-Davies yard that has always flashed a lot of quality but seldom seems to be placed in the right spot.
While this contest is one of the top races of the day, Astracad belongs in this one and gets a good break from the handicappers here as well. He was a beaten favourite last time out and has won at Cheltenham before but not at a...
We are finally back in form with top-class jumps racing action as Cheltenham runs their second meet of the 2013/14 National Hunt season to coincide with the de facto finale of flat racing at Ascot. Both tracks offer up plenty of excitement and value on the day and you really do have to respect the fact that so many quality jumpers are getting back into action on Saturday.
Having won that last contest and now looking solid with another score laid out before them with a four pound weight allowance, they look likely to factor into the equation in this relatively limited field.
The Lark can be backed at an 8/1 price with most major continental bookmakers.
Dalkala comes into the race off a sensational score in the Prix L’Opera as she flourished down the stretch at Longchamp to capture the Group 1 score by the slimmest of margins as she collared the well-fancied Tasaday. Sent off at an impressive 8/1 price tag, you have to admire her resiliency.
While there may only be nine entries in the Group 1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, the third contest of the day appears to be one of the hardest puzzles to decipher on the entire card. Many come into the race with a lot of mixed form and it’s going to be up to the punters who are willing to take risks here and potentially go against the top choices who really stand to benefit from the confusion.
Talent comes into the race as the slim betting favourite and Ralph Beckett has a lot going in his direction with this three-year-old daughter of New Approach. She certainly didn’t win her last race...
Of the challengers available in this contest, there is Aidan O’Brien’s Eye of the Storm who looks set to get a five pound break in the weights because he’s a 3yo. He ships in off a victory at the Curragh a few weeks back and will be taking his third crack at a Group level contest. He’s not won any of the Group 3’s he’s contested thus far but was nearly there when losing to Sugar Boy by a head back in April at Sandown.
The first race of British flat racing’s de facto season finale is the Long Distance Cup - a Group 3 contest going a full 2m and really capping off the staying season with a cadre of talented runners set to contest this one.
There is a lot to like about the race and anybody with some genuine sense isn’t going to look too far past the Queen’s premier staying sensation Estimate as she holds on to a tight 2/1 ante post price in the build-up to the contest.
Two for two this year and unraced since his neck score over Simenon at Royal Ascot, this horse for...
He romped home by three lengths but looked a bit green early on - he was able to settle nicely when they got down to the business end of the race and you do have to reckon that Charlie Appleby thinks he’s got a live one here. Mickael Barzalona has been in the irons each time and you don’t anticipate them switching from that here.
The betting favourite is expected to be the talented two-year-old War Command, who is by breakout American sire War Front - who once stood for $10,000 and is now likely to stand in the range of $80,000 next year. The multiple Group 2...
There are several interesting runners set to contest the 2013 Dubai Dewhurst Stakes, which is the anchor fixture at Newmarket this Saturday. Expect some serious fireworks in the final two furlongs as this respectable group of quality colts look to make a serious statement for Guineas glory in 2014.
The task of handicapping this race is made even more difficult when one considers the fact that several of them are co-entered in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes, which runs just before the Dewhurst and will have two-year-olds going 6f instead of the 7f they will have to tackle in the Dewhurst.
A pair of three-year-old Henrythenavigators are also entered here and Cristofo Columbo and Afonso De Sousa have both been racing on the all-weather lately. They head back to the grass in a tricky Group 2 challenge but you reckon that Aidan O’Brien will have them both razor sharp for this significant step up in quality.
The next race is the Middle Park Stakes - a hotly-contested two-year-old race going 6f. There are a number of very exciting lightly-raced contenders who have been pointed at this race for quite some time. Only one entry comes into this race undefeated and it’s the well-bred Coolmore entry Great...
