Lingfield can expect their biggest crowd of the year and there should be more than enough to keep everyone entertainedThe early date for Easter last year did nothing at all for attendances at the three British meetings on Good Friday, with Lingfield, Newcastle and Bath suffering declines of 30%, 39% and 44% on their 2017 crowd figures as potential racegoers checked the weather forecast and decided to stay indoors.The numbers should bounce back in style this year, however, with temperatures expected to be well above the mid-April average at all three tracks, so Bath which is racing for the first time this season and Lingfield can expect to welcome their biggest crowds of the year and there should be more...
Roger Varians lightly raced six-year-old looks good value at 5-1 to take Thursdays feature race at NewmarketThis years Craven meeting has already fulfilled its primary function by highlighting live candidates for next months Classics in Qabala, the new favourite for the 1,000 Guineas, and Skardu, Wednesdays Craven Stakes winner, but the feature race on the final day could be seen as a timely reminder of how rapidly a promising three-year-old career can unwind. Around this time last year, Mark Johnstons Elarqam was a 5-1 chance for the 2,000 Guineas and ran a fine race to finish fourth, just over two lengths behind the winner, Saxon Warrior. It looked like the ideal platform for a successful season, but from that point...
Royal Marine and Zakouski are fancied to duke it out for the big race at Newmarket, but Skardu should not be overlookedA blue-on-blue head-to-head is the main attraction on the second day of the Craven meeting at Newmarket, as Godolphin’s two principal trainers field the first two names in the betting for the week’s feature event, the Craven Stakes.This race was, of course, won by Masar 12 months ago, less than two months before Charlie Appleby’s colt became the first Derby winner in Godolphin’s royal blue colours. Appleby’s representative on Wednesday afternoon is the once-raced Zakouski, who took a novice event at Kempton in November, while his cross-town colleague in the Godolphin operation, Saeed bin Suroor, fields the more experienced...
Wednesday’s Classic trial offers a clash of the Godolphin stables. Plus best bets for Tuesday’s action at NewmarketGodolphin’s two Newmarket stables go head to head in Wednesday’s Craven Stakes, the highlight event as racing returns to the town after its winter break. Zakouski, from the Charlie Appleby yard that won last year’s Craven with Masar, is 2-1 favourite while next in the betting is Royal Marine, trained by Saeed bin Suroor.That surprised Appleby, who said: “I would have thought Saeed’s horse would be favourite, to be honest. He’s a Group One performer already and the one that we’ve all got to beat. Related: Charlie Fellowes confirms purchase of Luca Cumani’s Newmarket stable Related: Talking Horses: Connor Brace is latest promising...
The 17-year-old looked skilful and confident as he steered Verdana Blue to an easy success at Ayr on SaturdayWe will hear more from Connor Brace, picked by Nicky Henderson to claim 7lb off Verdana Blue in Saturday’s Scottish Champion Hurdle, which the pair won handsomely. The way that she bolted up suggests that an awful lot of other jockeys could have won on her, but it was interesting that Henderson was prepared to trust a 17-year-old rookie with such a mission and I thought Brace handled it extremely well, for someone who got his conditionals’ licence in September. Related: Charlie Fellowes confirms purchase of Luca Cumani’s Newmarket stable Windsor2.00 Quick Recovery 2.30 Lambeth Walk 3.00 Smokey Lane 3.30 Fields Of...