Hi all,
Inside today’s main piece I’m doing a recap of Saturday’s action at Newmarket
Newmarket Recap:
The weekend’s soft ground made me cautious with my bets. Sadly, my decision to stake low coincided with a return to winning ways.
The Cambridgeshire Meeting began on Thursday with terrible ground. Things improved slightly by Friday and Saturday. However, the soft ground still added complexity to the Group 1 races and made solving the Cambridgeshire Handicap even more challenging than usual.
Game Set and Match for Wimbledon
Wimbledon Hawkeye was very professional in victory in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes. The mile suited him perfectly, and he handled the track beautifully. He’s now firmly in next years 2,000 Guineas picture.
His victory also boosted The Lion In Winter's Acomb form following on from The Waco Kid’s win in a Group 3 at the track on Thursday. I’m already on The Lion In Winter for the 2,000 Guineas, and he remains the best colt we’ve seen this season.
Royal Playwright, who finished second, settled much better this time than he had at Sandown but couldn’t match the winner’s class. Angelo Buonarroti, in third, is a big colt who will improve with time and looks promising for next year.
Lake Victoria Dominates
The Cheveley Park Stakes was a strong renewal, featuring Babouche, Lake Victoria, and two French challengers Daylight and Rayevka.
Lake Victoria saw heavy betting support just before the race. Lake Victoria led the smaller group that went near side. I thought given her stamina further Ryan Moore might grind it out from the front. What I didn’t expect was the way Lake Victoria quickened 1f out to win the race. Her rivals just couldn’t handle that change of gear and she deserves to head the betting for next year’s 1,000 Guineas. The only surprise for me is William Hill still have her at 7/2 for next season’s first fillies classic.
Daylight didn’t get the best ride but likely wouldn’t have beaten Lake Victoria anyway. Babouche couldn’t settle and probably didn’t enjoy the soft ground. Rayevka, too, was keen early and looked out of her depth.
Shadow Of Light Shines in Middle Park
The Group 1 Middle Park Stakes wasn’t the strongest race on paper. However, Shadow Of Light delivered an impressive performance. He quickened past Whistlejacket and won by four lengths. Whilst his win was visually impressive, Lake Victoria’s performance was faster on the clock.
Shadow Of Light has improved significantly since his third in the Gimcrack. He’s not the biggest but he’s strong colt who is speedily bred. He proved he’s a Group 1 horse and followed in the hoofprints of his half-brother Earthlight who won the race in 2019. After the race trainer Charlie Appleby hinted that Shadow Of Light might stick to sprinting next year. Whistlejacket, who had a strong season, was outclassed and will likely not improve beyond this.
Liberty Lane Rules the Cambridgeshire
The Cambridgeshire Handicap is one of the most difficult handicaps in the flat season, A field of 31 went to post for this year’s race. As it transpired very few had any chance due to the draw.
The last time the Cambridgeshire Handicap was run on worse than good was in 2010 when the race was won by Credit Swap from stall 3. This year’s race also run on soft ground went the way of Liberty Lane from stall 4.
As I mentioned on Saturday, low-drawn horses had a chance on the soft ground.
I fancied top weight Liberty Lane to go close. He was the class/form horse what I didn’t expect was to see him to bolt up. He travelled beautifully on the far side and maintained the gallop all the way to the line to win by 2 ½ lengths.
I went against the draw trend, tipping winner at 12/1 to Victor Value subscribers, and he didn’t disappoint. However, it wasn’t a great look for the race, with most of the 31 runners having little chance due to the draw.
Strong Finish to September—Looking Ahead to October
It was a much better week, with five winners after a rough stretch in September. I got the Irish Cesarewitch wrong, though—the heavy rain didn’t hit the Curragh as expected. And Comfort Zone finished 7th, but I backed him each way too six places. Aside from that, I’m heading into October in strong form and excited for what’s ahead. Those who joined Consistent Profits for my lay selections last week saw eight successful lays. If you want to grow your exchange betting bank, you can join me here.
The flat season may be winding down, but I have NH laying system that will hopefully prove as profitable as the flat one.
Good luck with your Monday bets!
John