Alan Thomson, the former Racing Editor at the Daily Record, puts up five tips at Newmarket and on Saturday.View selections below.
THIRD TIME LUCKY (3.50) can give Richard Fahey another big handicap scalp in the Betfred Cambridgeshire at Newmarket. Three-year-olds have fared well in the first leg of the autumn double in recent years and Third Time Lucky bids to emulate Bronze Angel, Pipedreamer and Formal Decree as winners from the Classic generation in the past decade. The 4lb penalty he picked up for scoring with awesome authority at Thirsk three weeks ago has allowed him to sneak in near the bottom of the weights, with Adam Beschizza booked. Fahey, who scooped the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup last Saturday with another three-year-old, Don’t Touch, has plotted a careful campaign for Third Time Lucky, already a four-time winner this season. He also saddles Gabrial’s Kaka, who would have a big chance on last year’s form off a mark of 88 here. He was well fancied at Ayr last week but flopped wearing headgear. Last year’s winner, the ever-popular Bronze Angel, bids for an unprecedented hat-trick but his 4lb penalty for winning at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting makes life harder. John Gosden loves to target this cavalry charge and he equips Gm Hopkins with a hood for the first time, with Frankie Dettori doing the steering.
Ryan Moore has returned from injury just in time to partner some choice mounts and his Juddmonte Royal Lodge partner DEAUVILLE (2.00) looks a colt going places. Another son of Galileo to emerge from the Aidan O’Brien finishing school, Deauville is unbeaten in two starts, his most recent victory coming at Leopardstown when lowering the colours of 1-3 favourite Sanus Per Aquam (a winner at HQ on Thursday).
William Haggas has orchestrated four wins out of BESHARAH (2.35) and his filly renews rivalry with unbeaten Illuminate in a fascinating Connolly’s Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes, a Group 1 for the fairer sex over six furlongs. Besharah was beaten a nose by Illuminate at Newmarket in July but has since gone from strength-to-strength, landing the Lowther Stakes at York with something to spare.
The colts’ Group 1 equivalent is the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes and the Gosden/Dettori combo can call the tune with SHALAA (3.10). Gosden tasted success in the race with the brilliant Oasis Dream and Shalaa may well fall into that category, having won the July Stakes, the Richmond Stakes and the Prix Morny on his last three outings and is now aiming for a five-timer.
On the supporting card, the fillies’ nursery can fall to RENFREW STREET (5.00). Mark Johnston’s two-year-old fairly demolished her rivals when blitzing from the front at Beverley and Joe Fanning will be stripping to his lightest weight of 8st.
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Tally Ho
Alan
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