Saturday Racing Tips & Best Bets for Newmarket

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.

Join today

Already a member?
Log in

It’s Cambridgeshire day at Newmarket and I’ve got a tip for the big race among my selections as we look ahead to a high-quality afternoon of racing.

Another really interesting Royal Lodge sees seven go to post and at the time of writing betting sites go 3/1 the field, with both Burning Up and FIRST LAW sharing market leadership.

Good cases can be made for both these unbeaten colts, the selection being officially rated 4lb higher than the former going into the race. Burning Up, trained by Karl Burke, has twice scored over 1m at Haydock, on good and then soft ground.

He did nothing wrong either time, defying a penalty with the second of those but, strictly on that form, he is going to need to improve to be the greater of the joint favourites on horse racing betting sites. The selection scored narrowly on debut at Sandown (1m, good to firm) and then successfully stepped up to Listed company in Haydock’s Ascendant Stakes (1m, heavy) about three weeks ago.

That was an improved effort and promised a fair bit more to come but then that’s the case for several others in here and, while the selection looks to have the best chance, this is no done deal. Quest For Stars, Rocket Boy, Quicken Away and Irish raider Haffner all have positives on their CVs and none of them would be a shock winner.

Newmarket tip 1: First Law – 1pt win @ 10/3 (William Hill)

It’s hard to see anything from outside the top three in the market threatening to win this, although this is actually a race where there can be shocks. Only three of the last ten winners started as favourite and just as many have had SPs of 14/1 or greater.

However, the last two favourites have obliged and I think SUN GODDESS can complete a hat-trick in the race for backers of the ‘jolly’ and uphold the biggest trend of the last ten winners and that is being trained by Aidan O’Brien. The master of Ballydoyle has saddled six of the last ten to get their noses in front and I’m siding with this year’s representative.

She’s a big talent who has already won in Group 1 company, having won the Phoenix Stakes and most recently dotted up over 7f in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, both at the Curragh.

She doesn’t mind what the ground is like and, although strictly speaking both her and her market rival’s best performances are very similar, I think there’s more to come from her.

Senorita Bonita has been beaten only once, in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot and got the better of Libertango in the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes on the July Course on her penultimate start, before running out a 4L winner of the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville last time. She’s clearly a big player, while Libertango is not written off.

Newmarket tip 2: Sun Goddess – 2pts win @ 13/8 (bet365)

A superb renewal of this Group 1 contest, where we have the Gimcrack’s beaten favourite Marco Polo representing Ballydoyle at a tempting 7/1 on betting apps, after he finally broke his duck in emphatic fashion in a Cork maiden last time.

He was beaten on debut by Push The Boat, who followed up with a Group 3 success and reopposes here as one of the leading players. That second success was definite progress for him, while Inner City Blues also took a big step up on his York debut success when scoring in the Group 2 July Stakes on the course next door, when last seen in July.

The Godolphin runner is likely to go off as the favourite for this and clearly has decent claims of listing the prize but I’m taking ORTHODOX to bounce back and return to winning ways.

The Clive Cox-trained colt is very much a speedy sort, having won over 5f on debut at Salisbury and then followed up successfully in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes (5f, good to firm) at Royal Ascot.

True, you have to forgive him that lack lustre effort behind Senorita Bonita in the Prix Morny last time but we can forgive any horse one such effort, especially as a juvenile and when having travelled overseas. I think we’ll see a different proposition now he’s back home and he looks the value at around 5/2.

Newmarket tip 3: Orthodox (Newmarket, 15.00) – 1pt win @ 11/4 (bet365)

bet365 Cambridgeshire (Heritage Handicap) (15.40, Newmarket)

A cracking contest in prospect for the leg one of the autumn double. Gavriel is totally unexposed and arrives in cracking form but that’s not gone unnoticed.

He’s pretty short as a result of that but still looks well treated under a 4lb penalty for his recent Ascot success. Having said that, he has to buck the trend of recent history, which has seen just one winning favourite in the last ten years.

Indalo, Crest Of Fire and Erzindjan can all have decent cases made but so, at a bigger price, can WILD THOUGHTS. Richard Spencer’s gelding also carries a penalty for a comfortable Class 2 success at Ayr last time out (1m2f, soft).

There’s little to choose between he and the reopposing Bourbon Blues on their recent Doncaster running but I think Saffie Osborne’s mount still has some potential improvement within, given that his Ayr victory was a career-best and he has had just 13 career starts. He looks a value each-way play.

Newmarket tip 4: Wild Thoughts – 1pt each-way @ 16/1 (Ladbrokes)

If you’re having a bet on Saturday’s action at Newmarket, it’s vital to practice responsible gambling.

Betting can be addictive, and it’s important to stay in control of your gambling. Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop.

Gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self-exclusion options, to help you stay in control.

But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don’t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.