The 3.00 at Newmarket is a proper handicap and whoever comes out on top will be a worthy winner. Candleford is hard to ignore at the top of the betting after his rampant Ascot victory but at a bigger price I think SUMMER'S KNIGHT offers some value. He ran a great race in the Northumberland Plate last time out, plugging on from a poor position. He was a typical Sir Mark improver last year and those tend to continue to go on improving as they get older which bodes well for his chance here.
Over at Ascot I can't believe SURREY MIST is the price he is. I'm expecting his price to crash at some point given his strong form in the book. Second in the London Gold Cup he then went on to run a admirable race at Ascot in a race which is definitely going to work out well and has already been boosted. This represents a step down in grade and his valuable handicap experience will count for a lot against some of his lightly raced rivals.
Newmarket 3.00 – Summer's Knight
Ascot 4.36 – Surrey Mist
Saturday
You have to love these Saturdays on the flat. Big meetings everywhere you look and competitive racing galore. I like the claims of MOUNTAIN PEAK at Ascot despite having carry a lot of weight. Ed Walker's charge has returned in good form this year and has ran well in races where conditions haven't been ideal for him. He loves quick ground and should appreciate the big field here which is probably why connections have booked Tom Marquand for the ride. It's a statement of intent and I think his class will shine through.
The Bunbury Cup is one of the harder handicaps to find the winner of in the season but I'll have a punt on ROPEY GUEST who looks a little big at 20/1. He ran a blinder at Ascot last time out and has shown good form over this course and distance before. Callum Hutchinson takes some valuable weight off and I'm hopeful of a good showing.
The John Smith's Cup at York is definitely going to bite me on the bum as I've backed the majority of the field before. I'm going to have two darts at the board and first up is BARYSHNIKOV who has been in great form all season so far. David Barron's horse won two good races earlier in the season in fine style before running a very good race when battling a positional bias at Redcar last time out. He showed there that he is still on a good mark and he may be suited to the likely fast tempo of this race.
However if they don't go quick and the leaders get away like they can do at York then I hope COCKALORUM will be one of those. You may be reading this thinking ‘here we go again' but I'm sure he's going to pop up in one of these races soon and I don't want to miss him. A very good horse on his day he has saved some of his best form for York, not very often out of the places in similar races, so at 40/1 he rates a sound each way bet.
Ascot 3.00 – Mountain Peak
Newmarket 3.50 – Ropey Guest
York 4.05 – Baryshnikov/ Cockalorum
