Cesarewitch Stakes (Heritage Handicap): Ranch Hand to Lead the Herd Home

Cesarewitch Stakes (Heritage Handicap): Ranch Hand to Lead the Herd Home

4.10 Newmarket After we gave you the heads up on huge gamble Lord North in the Cambridgeshire, we now look to complete the Autumn Double by backing the winner of the £350,000 Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket on Saturday. This 180-year-old marathon two-and-a-quarter mile test features 31 runners and will be run in fairly laborious conditions making it a true exam of the field’s stamina, but we think the we have the horse to do it.  Here’s our shortlisted six against…

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Cambridgeshire Handicap: North to Lord it Over Cambridgeshire Rivals

Cambridgeshire Handicap: North to Lord it Over Cambridgeshire Rivals

3.40 Newmarket The Cambridgeshire has been on the calendar since 1877 and this year the event is worth £160,000.  The first leg of the Autumn Double looks to be a cracker, one that may well be dominated by well-handicapped three-year-olds and we have five of them in our top 7 here. Beringer There’s no doubt that as a 4yo Alan King’s gelding has more to offer, so as a solid handicapper who’s gone down a couple of pounds in the…

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Ayr Gold Cup: Arecibo the One for O’Meara in Ayr Gold Cup

Ayr Gold Cup: Arecibo the One for O’Meara in Ayr Gold Cup

3.50 Ayr Now worth £200,000, the Ayr Gold Cup is as competitive as ever but we’ve managed to whittle this year’s renewal down to a magnificent seven:  Arecibo A model of consistency for David O’Meara this season, 4yo Arecibo has run close to the likes of Dakota Gold (Ebor meeting) and Oxted (Portland Handicap) and gets in here off the same mark of 98. Overall his better form is his most recent, leading us to think that he is improving…

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Portland Handicap: Bielsa to Manage Portland Success

Portland Handicap: Bielsa to Manage Portland Success

1.50 Doncaster A maximum field of 22 go to post, all looking to land this attractive £37,000 first prize and we’ve managed to whittle the field down to six outstanding candidates. A Momentofmadness Last year’s winner seems to be coming back to form at just the right time, the six-year-old gelding having run a good sixth behind the fast-improving Dakota Gold at York. While he is now 4lbs lower in the handicap since last year’s win and William Buick is…

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Ebor Handicap: Ben Vrackie to Give Ebor Rivals a Mountain to Climb

Ebor Handicap: Ben Vrackie to Give Ebor Rivals a Mountain to Climb

3.40 York The first £1million Ebor Handicap at York has attracted such a competitive field that, while having nailed down a selection, it is close to impossible for us to shortlist less than 8 horses with these runners all holding major chances of landed the £600,000 first prize. Racecard Contenders Baghdad Mark Johnston is a past master with these big staying handicaps and has three runners in this, his Baghdad arguably being the best of them.  He has produced his…

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Great St Wilfrid Handicap: Great St Wilfrid Trophy Off to Lahore

Great St Wilfrid Handicap: Great St Wilfrid Trophy Off to Lahore

3.15 Ripon A full field of 20 runners go to post at Ripon on Saturday for the Great St Wilfrid, the Garden Racecourse hosting its number one event and offering a cool £46,000 to the winner. Local trainers have a terrific record in this race and we expect that trend to carry on, Yorkshire’s Mark Johnson, Phillip Makin, Tim Easterby and David O’Meara all holding serious chances while Darlington’s Michael Dods knows the time of day with sprinters.  Here’s our…

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Stewards’ Cup: Growl on the Prowl at Goodwood

Stewards’ Cup: Growl on the Prowl at Goodwood

3.40 Goodwood Looking at the results of the last three Stewards’ Cups, there is no appreciable track bias with placed horses coming from all sorts of boxes.  Instead then we must see where the pace is, not necessarily meaning where the front-runners are but where our highest rated horses are jumping from. Of the six we’ve put up below, four of them are coming from low draws so we’ve taken the view that the far side may be a little…

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John Smith’s Diamond Jubilee Handicap: Style to Hunt Them Down in John Smith’s

John Smith’s Diamond Jubilee Handicap: Style to Hunt Them Down in John Smith’s

3.50 York A full field of 22 runners and a purse worth an impressive £200,000 naturally makes this one of the most competitive handicaps of the year so far. Form from various trips and numerous tracks is represented as some of the best trainers in the country go in search of a huge Saturday win, but on closer inspection of the field it seems there is a sensible bet to be had in this year’s race and we will simply…

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Old Newton Cup (Handicap): Let Off the Bombyx in the Old Newton Cup

Old Newton Cup (Handicap): Let Off the Bombyx in the Old Newton Cup

3.15 Haydock This is a very famous old race and one that has attracted a good field.  The mile-and-a-half handicap is worth over £62,000 to the winner and as such some of the biggest stables are represented; William Haggas, Charlie Appleby and John Gosden among others bringing horses from Newmarket. Al Muffrih William Haggas’ four-year-old comes into this race as favourite after winning the Zetland Gold Cup at Redcar, but while the extra distance may help it has to be…

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Northumberland Plate (Heritage Handicap): Bartholomeu the Man

Northumberland Plate (Heritage Handicap): Bartholomeu the Man

3.35 Newcastle The historic Northumberland Plate takes place on Saturday in front of a capacity crowd at Gosforth Park, and the £150,000 event has once again attracted a full field of 20 runners, albeit last year’s winner Withhold has been taken out. Runners with a variety of profiles are entered here and, on the numbers, this has proven to be just about the most competitive handicap we’ve reviewed on the flat so far this season.  That said, we do have…

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