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Newmarket betting tips: It could pay to side with Saeiqa

Steven Dowler went agonisingly close to landing the Place 6 on Thursday, nailing five out of six legs in his Newmarket betting preview. He returns with more Newmarket betting tips on Thursday as he attempts to go one better and take the Boosted £7,000 Place 6 down Read his Newmarket betting tips and join his Syndicate.

 

Newmarket betting tips

 

12.10 – Class 3 Handicap – 1m4f 

A small but select field to start day two of my Newmarket betting tips and I quite like the Hugo Palmer-trained EASTERN SHERIFF who brings a solid-looking profile to the table. He has won two of his three races, including when comfortably dispatching three useful sorts at Ripon three weeks ago. The form of that race has resulted in mixed messages but the third horse did win earlier this week and any sign of improvement here, especially with Ryan Moore in the saddle makes him an appealing participant.

GROUP ONE POWER can also be given a second look here on the back of a fair effort in which he finished an excellent fourth at Royal Ascot in the King George Stakes behind Hukum. Evidence of that latest performance suggests that he might have finished second without being denied a clear run one furlong from the finish. The handicapper has been quite lenient with him regarding that outcome, only putting him up a fraction (2lb) so he’s well-treated and can be expected to make his presence felt here.

Selections: GROUP ONE POWER, EASTERN SHERIFF

 

12.45 – Class 3 Handicap – 5f 

A tricky sprint-contest to sort out, but I’m willing to put four on our ticket, who all have leading chances. We start with Tom Clover’s CELSIUS who can be forgiven for latest effort when failing to see out the six furlong distance. The drop back in trip to the minimum distance will see him in much better light having recorded all of his victories over it, so there is a good chance he can resume winning ways. Meanwhile, both LOMU and ROYAL BIRTH are also well-treated based on previous form and if putting their best foot-forward again today, both are certainly capable of making an impact at this level.

Selections: CELSIUS, LOMU, ROYAL BIRTH

 

13.15 – Class 4 Maiden Stakes – 7f 

It should pay to side with the favourite SAEIQA for the Gosden and Dettori combination in this race. He ran an excellent race to finish third in the Group Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, and a repeat performance here should see him off the mark at the third time of asking.

Meanwhile, MAGICAL LAND is the choice of William Buick representing Charlie Appleby’s one of  two in the race. He lost little in defeat when second on debut to the promising Bright Devil, and is another who needs plenty of consideration in a race that will be run to suit.

Selections: MAGICAL LAND, SAEIQA

 

13.50 – Class 3 Handicap – 7f 

Another highly-competitive handicap in today’s Newmarket betting tips but I would like to think we have the race covered. Ben Curtis has an astonishing record riding four-year-old and older horses at this track – 80% strike-rate in total, which is worth bearing in mind. He rides PRESIDENTIAL who was a creditable sixth in the Silver Royal Hunt Cup last month beaten just four lengths. Although he’s been raised 5lb for that run in defeat, he’s already hit the frame over C&D off 1lb higher mark in a higher graded race previously, so he’s technically still very well-treated here with previous course form always being a plus.

HERCULEAN looked promising as a two-year-old when formerly trained by Roger Charlton, and was expected to take higher-ranks in pattern company thereafter. Although those expectations were distinguished, he did hold his form pretty well on all career outings for his former boss, though he proved disappointing on his final start last year. Interestingly enough, he’s actually started no higher than 15/8 in the betting on ALL career starts to date, which gives clear indication that punters like to firmly latch onto him every time he makes a racecourse appearance. Now from a form perspective, while open to further improvement in handicap’s being lightly-raced for his age, surely the 12/1 available is too big to ignore here for each-way purposes.

He makes his stable-seasonal debut for Stuart Williams on his return to action off a slightly reduced mark than when last seen (1lb). I firmly believe course form is an advantage so the mere fact that he’s run twice at Newmarket previously, placing second on both occasions tells the story of him liking the track, and if you can forgive his latest effort, there would have been strong suspicion of him starting favourite for today’s contest. A drop back to seven furlongs will be no hindrance and, if anything, it may even suit him better given he’s 1-1 over the distance, so he’s likely to play a more significant role than his current odds suggest in this wide-open event.

My third and final selection in the race has to be top-weight veteran ZHUI FENG despite not being the force of old. His form has been a hit-miss for a while, but on his day, he is too classy for this sort of level and he’s extremely well-treated dropping down in grade for this contest. All of his career victories and placed efforts have come off much higher marks in the past (all between marks of 93-108). Today will see him run off a career low-handicap mark of 90, and this time he takes a drop into class 3 company for the first time since 2016 where he placed over C&D off 3lb higher.

Let’s not forget, we are speaking about a past winner of the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot off a mark 100, and his last success came in a Listed event rated 108 when firmly at the peak of his powers. Furthermore, he goes well for Jim Crowley and has run plenty more good races than bad at Newmarket beforehand in better graded races. Therefore, if he does get an easy time of things on the front-end, I have no doubt he will be very hard horse to pass being the class-act in the race, and represents definite value at the very least to hit the frame.

Selections: PRESIDENTIAL, HERCULEAN, ZHUI FENG

 

14.25 – Duchess Of Cambridgeshire Group 2 – 6f

Of course, there were some exceptional performances at Royal Ascot last month, but I was hugely taken by Albany Stakes winner DANDALLA who was the standout highlight for me by some stretch. The way she effortlessly glided through a top-class field on the bridle to lead at the furlong pole before unleashing a devastating turn of foot to win by six lengths was very special indeed. In fact, that form has already been well-advertised with the horse who was back in third Mother Earth has won since.

Any drop of rain here won’t hinder her chance at all having proven herself to handle a bit of cut in the ground, adding to that, she ticks all the top-three trends for this race – so I am very sweet on the chances for this potential top-class filly to remain unbeaten and provide both Karl Burke and Ben Curtis with another big-race success. As boring as it might seem going for the favourite, I think she is a class above this field, and her odds of around 6/4 at this present moment of time looks a complete steal, especially when you can’t find any chinks in her armour.

Clearly, no horse can be classed as a “certainty” because anything can happen in a race m, so I think the right thing to do is to choose MORE BEAUTIFUL as the back-up selection, though I thoroughly expect Dandalla to stamp her class on the field. Having said that, the Aidan O’Brien runner could only manage ninth at Royal Ascot in the Queen Mary Stakes last month, but she was odds-on favourite that day, so better can be expected from the beautifully-bred filly this afternoon.

Selections: DANDALLA, MORE BEAUTIFUL

 

15.00 – Class 2 Heritage Handicap – 1m6f 

The final race on our Newmarket betting tips preview is a tricky one to digest, but there are a few in here who stand out at double-figure odds. One of those being PROTECTED GUEST who I think has an excellent each-way chance. He doesn’t have many miles on the clock compared to a few of these, and this contest looks like it may have been the plan for a while. His two runs this year off a mark of 99 have been decent, out-performing odds of 33/1 and 50/1 on each occasion.

The latest effort from the five-year-old saw him finish seventh of 14 runners in the Duke Of Cambridgeshire over 1m3f, where he did all of his best work in the final furlong. The manner in which he has finished his races suggests he is worth another go at the trip of 1m6f based on the fact that his only previous try at this trip came at Yarmouth last year in a Class 2 event where his stamina was again firmly in evidence when he stuck on stoutly, from well off the pace.

He seemed to relish the staying-distance having travelled into the race smoothly before enduring a luckless passage between the three furlong and two furlong pole. Once daylight arrived, he kept on willingly to be beaten just one length having conceded the best part of 14lb to the winner. I just think he has an ideal set-up here, and providing he doesn’t endure a troubled passage on this occasion, he will do for me at 25/1 or bigger in places.

Last years winner KING’S ADVICE will have been campaigned for this race again, and has the class to go well off top-weight with Joe Fanning staying loyal in the saddle. STAR OF THE EAST also represents Mark Johnston’s quintet of runners and should nowhere near be 16/1 based on his previous exploits. He simply loves it around Newmarket with course form reading impressive figures of 2, 2, 1, 1, 3 and 2 from just six outings.

Impressively, two of those victories actually came over course and distance off a mark of 90 and 95. Furthermore, Star Of The East placed three times back in 2018 off a mark 98 each time, and although he wasn’t seen again until June this year, he showed he retains all his enthusiasm and ability when finishing runner-up over the same course and distance just twelve days ago. On the face of it, where by my reckoning, he should be much lower in the market.

I am surprised to see this one available at such a big price considering he has the best course form in the book, handles all types ground along with having an ideal preparation in the build-up to today’s acid test. Taking all this into account, I think this course-specialist is one of the best each-way punts on today’s card with an actual good chance of winning the race off his current mark along with PJ McDonald taking over the reins being no negative.

GHOSTWATCH should have come on loads from his reappearance last time out and it should be worth noting that William Buick has opted to ride him over the other two Godolphin participants. He’s proven over this trip having won at Ascot back in 2018 over 1m6f and if you can put a line through his latest run, it wouldn’t be difficult to envisage him starting favourite for this race.

Selections: PROTECTED GUEST, STAR OF THE EAST, GHOSTWATCH, KING’S ADVICE

 

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