Dave Nevison Saturday tips: Best bets for Newmarket and York
Dave Nevison shares his best bets for York and Newmarket on Saturday, with two selections in the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap among his picks. Watch all the action live on Racing TV and Racing TV Extra.
The Ayr Gold Cup winner looked like one to stay loyal to after he won the six-furlong showpiece as he was value for more than the winning margin suggests having had several avenues to victory closed before eventually getting a gap.
It was a nightmare watching the race for those of us who backed him, but it came good in the end, and he went past the post comfortably in front.
He is just 4lb higher here, but the raise is almost negated by Ryan Sexton’s valuable 3lb claim. Significantly has run well under Sexton previously this season, and trainer Julie Camacho, following a quiet spell, is now motoring along with three winners from her past ten runners at the time of writing.
The selection looks to have done very well with the draw in stall eight, which is both suitably low and near the likely pacesetters, so it is difficult to see him not playing a part here.
I am having two stabs at the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap this year, and I may even be being foolish taking on the Irish contingent.
However, last years’s runner up Vino Victorix has had a few runs this season, but a close look through his form tells me that this has been the plan all season.
He has not finished in the frame inn five starts this year, and now finds himself 2lb lower than the rating of 92 he ran off last year.
Even off this rating, he might not have beaten Run For Oscar, who looked a massive plot last year, but with a clearer run through the field this time, he will no doubt go very close.
My other selection, Temporize, seems to have been waiting for easier ground as he has missed a couple of engagements since he did me a massive favour at the Qatar Goodwood Festival in August.
He arrives here following a 71-day absence, and it's likely he has enjoyed his break as he had a few quick runs after being bought out of the Johnston yard in July.
He won that marathon easier than the winning margin suggests, and was just being closed down by a finisher late on after a decisive move two furlongs out.
Temporize has gone up 7lb since, but is still below the highest mark he reached with his previous trainer, and now that he is confirmed as an out and out stayer, his new handler, Syd Hosie, might be able to win another big handicap with him.
Fergal O’Brien, at the time of writing, has saddled three winners from his past three runners over Jumps, including a seasonal debutant who had not run since April, so it seems highly unlikely that Punctuation will lack for fitness in this staying handicap.
The selection is 3lb lower than when he last ran on the Flat for Andrew Balding in 2020 (which was a disappointing effort at this track) and he continued to disappoint in a few outings over Jumps for Charlie Longsdon, but it is clear that O’Brien has found the key to him.
He won three of his five outings over obstacles last season, culminating in a big win at Aintree, and while I am sure the main focus is a hurdling campaign again, he might well have improved enough to win this decent flat contest along the way. Hollie Doyle is a positive jockey booking, too.
