Newmarket Saturday Preview - 26/09/20

The first race of the day on the Rowley Mile is is the Maiden Fillies' Stakes over seven furlongs and the William Haggas trained Conservatoire could turn out to be a very nice recruit.

The Cheveley Park owned youngster has only been seen on a racecourse once before, finishing fifth of nine in novice stakes at Yarmouth.

Haggas is known with his juveniles for them always needing the run first time out but the improvement he gets out of them for their second run is astonishing and hopefully that will be the case for this daughter of Dutch Art.

Her debut came over six furlongs and stepping up to seven today should suit her more being a half sister winners over this trip.

The first standout event of the day at flat racing HQ is the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes over a mile and Cobh for Clive Cox looks the pick of the bunch.

Cobh has a serious form line this season, winning nicely on debut at Haydock in soft conditions and then backing that up with a superb second behind Chindit for Richard Hannon, who has since gone on to land the Group Two Champagne Stakes.

Cobh got back to winning ways in a Listed contest at Salisbury with the second that day Fancy Man, since going on to win next time out in another Listed event.

The step up to Group Two company looks the next logical step and from how his runs have worked out this term he should run another cracker.

The first Group One event of the day is the Cheveley Park Stakes over six furlongs for the fillies' and our selection is the Richard Fahey trained Umm Kulthum.

This filly has been superb since starting her life on a racecourse, getting off the mark on her debut at Thirsk and then backing that up in the Group Two Lowther Stakes last time out.

That run at York's Ebor meetng has since been franked with second that day since going on to finish second again in a photo-finish in another Group Two event.

She dropped in grade for his last event at Ayr when winning the 15 runner the Group Three Scotty Brand Firth Of Clyde Fillies' Stakes and if building on that has to be feared.

Another feature event at Newmarket is the Group One Middle Park Stakes over six furlongs and Minzaal for Owen Burrows looks an outstanding juvenile.

Minzaal has been electric this term, having landed the Group Two Gimcrack Stakes last time out at York's Ebor meeting.

He looked to be a rising star for the Owen Burrows yard having made his debut at Ascot in a classy maiden and finishing fourth.

He came on massively for that run and cruised to victory in a Class 5 event at Salisbury, winning by just under four lengths but never coming off the bridle.

In what looked a decent field of juveniles in the Gimcrack, he again travelled strongly into the six furlong event and when Crowley went for the whip he responded in kind and pulled away from the field to take his first group contest of his career.

He holds some of the stand out form in the race and could turn out to be a frequent black type winner in the making.

The feature race of the meeting is the Cambridgeshire Heritage Handicap that in the past has been won by superstars such as Wissahickon and Lord North and we are hoping to find another gem this term.

With so many runner heading to post we have two selections and the first is the Roger Charlton trained Tempus who has been superb this term being currently unbeaten.

The four year old returned after 10 months off the track at Newbury over a mile and he got off the mark straight away taking a decent handicap.

He then backed that up next time out when scoring again at Ascot again having gone up 2lb for his winning run on seasonal debut.

This has been the plan all season for the son of Kingman and still only on a mark of 97 makes him very appealing.

At a bigger price in the handicap event we like the look of King Carney for Charlie Fellowes and with the rain falling there is a big chance he could filter into the placings.

The three year old needs juice in the ground to perform and showed that last time out at Newbury when behind Tempus in a hot handicap.

He was staying on really well that day and racing off the same mark of 100 makes him a value each way bet at over 20/1 with some bookmakers.

The penultimate event of the meeting is a Class 2 Nursery Handicap over seven furlongs and the inform Hugo Palmer fields Neptune's Wonder.

This filly has been exciting in both her runs this term, finishing sixth on debut at Newbury over six furlongs behind some very smart horses that have since franked the form.

She also franked that novice stakes form when winning at Goodwood last time out on her first time of being stepped up to six furlongs.

The daughter of Kodiac cost 120,000gns and being given a fair mark for her handicap debut should see her give another bold show.

The final runner of the day is Ghalyoon for Hamdan Al Maktoum and Marcus Tregoning and we are giving him another chance after finishing a nice third last time out.

The five year old has only been seen five times in his career, being very unexposed for his age but retaining plenty of ability.

The gelding was seen twice last term finishing second at Newmarket before getting off the mark on firm ground at Salisbury.

He made his seasonal return over seven furlongs at Doncaster having been off for over 12 months and finished a bold second in a Class 2 Handicap.

He then backed that up with a good third in a similar event, not quite matching the front two runners in the final stages and this race looks more winnable.