Find all previous Seymour Biz racing previews in his weekly column: Saturday Horse Racing Tips
In the run up to Royal Ascot next week we have four very good meetings in the UK on Saturday, two of which are being televised on terrestrial channels. These are Sandown and Newbury and the Berkshire course features a vey good Oaks Trial where William Haggas sends his classy filly Domino Darling for her first run of the year. The turnout for the seven races on Saturday is not wonderful considering how both owners and trainers have lobbied for the resumption of racing however there is plenty of class involved but it is very difficult to find a lot of value. So I have picked a couple of races from each meeting from the small fields involved for this week’s Lucky Fifteen.
Seymour Biz Saturday Lucky Fifteen Tips
- 2.25 Newbury. Foxtrot Lady
- 3.35 Newbury. King Of Comedy
- 2.05 Sandown. Ascension
- 3.15 Sandown. Solid Stone
Bet this lucky 15 with the best odds on Bet365
Starting with the the Maggie Dickson Fillies Stakes at Newbury that goes off at 2.25 where James Fanshawe has the favourite with Preening. The filly finally got off the mark for 2019 in her final race at Deauville just before Christmas. That was on the all-weather and her only win on grass is on firm going, she may not get that on Saturday. Another all-weather winner is Dancing Feet from Archie Watson’s yard who has won twice already this year but this step up to Listed class may be too much for her. Farzeen is having her first run for Roger Varian since last October, she was a dual winner last year but somewhat went off the boil in her last couple of races including when finishing four places behind Preening at Doncaster in September. Just in front of Farzeen that day was Andrew Balding’s Foxtrot Lady who had a run-out on the all-weather at Kempton last week. She campaigned without success last year in Group company after a great 3-year-old season when she won four times, I consider she can get back to winning ways with this drop to a Listed race.
At 3.35 we have the Diomed Stakes which was due to be run at Epsom last week and the favourite here is John Gosden’s King Of Comedy. It looks to me that this classy individual is using this race to finally get a Group race under his belt after several close calls. He was second in last year’s St James’s Palace Stakes and fourth in the International York and it looked like he was headed for the Queen Anne at this year’s Royal Ascot, for him to turn up here should be noted. Zaaki looks interesting for Sir Michael Stoute, he was a triple winner last year and was sent off to Sha-Tin in December but finished down the field. It depends to be seen if he has got over his trip and is back to full fitness. Marie’s Diamond has won already this year, that was at Newmarket last week and she comes out to try and claim a quick double for trainer Mark Johnson but this step up to Group company is a big ask.
At Sandown it is the Sutton Handicap at 2.05 and those at the top of the handicap look well weighted to me. They include Marcus Tregoning’s Impressor who won a small race at Salisbury last August but was unimpressive on his final two starts. Well Of Wisdom is top weight, he had an excellent season last year with two victories he then went to Meydan over the winter and took a £79k Listed race for trainer Charlie Appleby but he has a lot of weight here. Tomfre set up a triple winning run last summer for Ralph Beckett then came out at Newmarket in October to win again. He was tried in Group company but failed to impress. Behind him in the Newmarket race was Ascension who was a fast finishing fourth, he had previously won two of his three races but had no luck in running here. He dwelt in the stalls and then was short of room on leaving the gate, after being held up in the rear of the field and upon making his move he again found himself short of room. Although he stayed on strongly he was beaten just over 3 lengths, he can improve on that and Roger Varian’s grey can take this.
The Claygate Handicap is at 3.15 and here Sir Michael Stoute has Solid Stone who has been installed as favourite. He won on his seasonal reappearance last year and was placed in his last three starts including a Class2 here at Sandown over 10 furlongs, the drop back in trip should help his cause. I liked the look of Exec Chef last year but he proved very expensive to follow and even off bottom weight here I can’t give Jim Boyle’s gelding much of a chance, but he may well prove me wrong. The Gill Brothers trained by Stuart Williams ran well on the all-weather last season winning two from four but it remains to be seen if he can make the transition to turf. Muraad ran well at Ascot in July for trainer Owen Burrows beaten only a head but was unable improve on that next time out when finishing last here at Sandown. Elegant Light looks interesting, this French import won twice over there last year. Now trained by Ralph Beckett he may well put up a good performance with some cut in the ground.
Saturday Lucky Fifteen
- 2.25 Newbury. Foxtrot Lady
- 3.35 Newbury. King Of Comedy
- 2.05 Sandown. Ascension
- 3.15 Sandown. Solid Stone