Find all previous Seymour Biz racing previews in his weekly column: Saturday Horse Racing Tips.
It’s the first leg of the Autumn Double this week with the Cambridgeshire, a Class 2 event, at Newmarket where the other four televised contests are for 2-year-olds. They consist of two Group 1s, a Group 2 and a Class 2 Fillies Nursery Handicap. So, while this may be top-class action for the purists, it does not bode well for the punter having a bet on Saturday afternoon.
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The other meeting being shown on ITV Racing this week is from Haydock Park, and thank goodness they have some proper handicap racing on the card, with two Class 2s being televised.
I have gone a little off-piste this week, as there are only three proper handicaps being covered, so I have added Haydock’s 3.15, a 6-furlong Class 3 handicap with a big field, to make up the fourth leg of this week’s Lucky Fifteen. Here are my thoughts.
Saturday Lucky Fifteen
3.40 Newmarket. Indalo
1.35 Haydock. Centigrade
2.10 Haydock. Trilby
3.15 Haydock. Art Lover
Bet this lucky 15 on Betfred
I will begin with the big betting race of the day, the bet365 Cambridgeshire. This is a Heritage Handicap, a Class 2 contest run over 1m 1f. The very warm favourite in this 28-runner handicap is John and Thady Gosden’s Gavriel, a 3-year-old who has run only four times in his short career. He won a 6-runner Class 3 event at Ascot earlier this month.
This race is an altogether different challenge, and I consider the Gosden’s other runner, Harmonics, to have a better chance. He won two small races in May and June and was third in Group 3 at Windsor just under three weeks ago. He could hit the frame.
Top weights have won the last three runnings of this fine race, but I can’t see Karl Burke, who has saddled the last two winners, being successful once again with top-weight Thunder Run, despite his return to form with a victory at Doncaster a fortnight ago and a second at York last month. His 4lb penalty does not help his cause.
Harry Charlton’s Hand Of God won a Class 3 at Newbury in May, then ran second at York in July. The following month, he ran poorly in a Group 3 at Deauville, and I think he can be placed here.
Brian Meehan’s Bourbon Blues won at Doncaster a fortnight ago. He has finished in front of Harmonics twice this season and is another for the frame.
Jack Channon’s Crest Of Fire won at Goodwood in early August but then ran poorly at Windsor earlier this month.
Roger Varian’s Indalo was runner-up in this last year, and after two placed efforts earlier in the season, he got his head in front at Sandown in July. His latest run at Goodwood later that month can be forgiven as there was a lot of bumping and boring going on and he got the worst of it. He can bounce back and take this prestigious prize.
Moving to the north-west and Haydock’s very competitive card, which begins with the 1.35, the Class 2 William Hill Epic Boosts Handicap run over one mile. Top weight is David O’Meara’s Cerulean Bay, who has had a busy year running 8 times without success. His best run came at Goodwood, a course where he has won twice, when he finished second in July. He needs to drop down the weights.
William Haggas’s Eternal Force ran up a treble last season, latterly here at Haydock, but he has disappointed this term.
Ed Walker’s Arctic Thunder won at Salisbury in July and then here at Haydock in August, both Class 3 races. His latest outing was at Ascot earlier this month in a Class 2 where he finished 6th. More is required.
Marco Botti’s Looka won a Class 3 at Salisbury at the beginning of this month and can move on from that to be placed here.
I prefer Ralph Beckett’s Centigrade, who won on the all-weather at Southwell in June but was outclassed in a Listed race at Sandown a fortnight ago. This drop in class can tell.
The 2.10 is the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap. This Class 2 contest is run over a sharp 5 furlongs. Stuart Williams’s King Of Light returns to try to reclaim the prize he won last year, but his form this season has fallen off a cliff since his win at Windsor in June. He needs to drop down the handicap.
Adam Kirby’s Ancient State won at Doncaster a fortnight ago, adding to two wins earlier in the season. He can go close.
Robert Cowell’s Rhythm N Hooves popped up with a victory two runs ago at Newbury in a Class 3, but the rest of his form this season is nothing to write home about.
I like the look of Sam England’s Trilby, who is a consistent performer in these 5-furlong contests. He has won four times at Haydock, and after winning at Beverley in August, he ran a fine second here at Haydock earlier this month. He ran fairly well in the Silver Cup at Ayr last week despite being drawn on the wrong side.
The 3.15 is not being televised but looks an intriguing contest. Titled the Forever Our Mike Handicap, it is a Class 3 race run over 6 furlongs. Ed Walker has one of the top weights with So Darn Hot, who ran last in the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot but ran a fair third at Salisbury last month.
Walker also runs Black Star Boy, who has disappointed since winning at Sandown in April. Lemos de Sousa’s Golden Long has won three Class 4s so far this term and is upped in class here but has plenty of weight.
Richard and Peter Fahey’s Storm Force has won on both his outings this season, but those Class 4 victories were on the all-weather. If he copes with the turf, he can go very close.
John Butler’s Zain Primus is another with two wins on the all-weather, but when going up against the big boys in a Class 2 at York last month, he was beaten out of sight.
William Haggas is having a fine season and sends Art Lover here. He has been placed on his last four outings, latterly a good third at Yarmouth earlier this month in a Class 3. He can take the honours here.
Saturday Lucky Fifteen
3.40 Newmarket. Indalo
1.35 Haydock. Centigrade
2.10 Haydock. Trilby
3.15 Haydock. Art Lover
Bet this lucky 15 on Betfred
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