Newmarket Friday 24/9/2021

Singles, Placepot and Quadpot Newmarket Friday 24/09/21

Newmarket looks great on Friday with lots of really good races. This should mean there is a lot of money in the Placepot pool to be won. The following selections are only recommended for the purposes shown unless they are recommended in a different tips section.

1.15 Placepot 1: Al Jaddaf

1.50 Placepot 2: Soft Whisper (EW 8/1 William Hill 1/5 1st 5)

2.25 Quadpot 1/Placepot 3: Sayyida (EW 6/1 William Hill 1/5 1st 4)

3.00 Quadpot 2/Placepot 4: Majestic Glory (Win 11/4 BOG Bet365)

3.35 Quadpot 3/Placepot 5: Laneqash (EW Bet365 6/1 BOG 1/5 1st 3)

4.10 Quadpot 4/Placepot 6: Without A Fight

BOG = Best odds guaranteed offer

We have a small 7f class 4 maiden stakes to get past in the first race. Because there are only 5 runners in the 1.15 pm there are only two places available. We should hope there is not a nonrunner reducing it to win only.

Tezees does not look like a great horse and the unraced Thomas Equinas sire is not impressive. If superstar DJ ducks left again at the start it could easily mess up the chances of the slow starting Spinaround who is the stall next to him. Spinaround has not shown much so far and may be able to show a little progression if he gets a clear run.

Taking everything in to account Al Jaddaf may be the favourite but this progressive looking colt is also the safest way to get to leg 2. He looks destined to win and should enjoy his turf debut as Sharmadal progeny prefer turf to the all weather.

The second race of the day at 1.50pm gives us three places to aim for. The filly with no official rating; Adabbah, won well last time out in a decent time. Winning a class 5 novice stakes is a different proposition to winning a Listed Race.

Next we need to see who is out of their depth according to the ratings and strike those off. That leaves us six to consider. Of the older horses I can’t see Maamora giving Soft Whisper 4 lbs. I feel Ummalner needs to redeem herself a little and would not be the best of choices. Foorat looks interesting as she has been placed in listed company previously.

I think Charlie Appleby’s Wedding Dance looks good but it is likely to be the favourite which is not useful to us. She came 2nd in a group 2 at Deauville august 2020 and has not been seen since which is a bit of a concern.

This leaves Foorat, Soft Whisper and Dubai Love. Dubai Love is a good filly but has had time off due to a wind operation. Between Foorat and Soft Whisper I prefer Soft Whisper who I think could win this race at a decent price. She has been off for a while but Saeed will have her fit as a fiddle. She has previously won a listed race (UAE 1000 Guineas) and has contested in some really big races.  She will welcome the drop down in class.

The 2.25pm presents a fillies and mares Group 3 to decipher. Three places are available to get us to the next race. In the first leg of the Quadpot Sayyida looks just the type to take us through to the next stage. She is a course and distance winner albeit not at Group level.

She was keeping on strongly at the end of the last race she had here and seems to enjoy this trip. Last time at Deauville she contested a group 3 that was run quite slowly and she may just have needed more pace. I never know what to think of the Deauville races. She also lost out in the last 75 yards suggesting 1m4f is better for her than 1m4 ½ f.

Charlie Appleby is in sensational form and I would like to believe this filly can win the race.  William Buick being in the saddle gives me extra confidence she can get the job done. It won’t be an easy race to win as there are some really good horses including the brilliant Albaflora but I think Sayyida can do it which means at the price she is a great pick for the Placepot.

Three places available in the 3.00pm which is always useful especially with 2yo races like this 7f fillies Group 2. On first impressions this race looks a bit of a minefield.

The first thing is to work out who is well in and who is well out according to the official ratings. That leaves us about six horses to look through.

The class 4 Girl On Film looks good form as she won going away but the time wasn’t great suggesting she wasn’t really challenged. She did win her first race though which is commendable but she will have trouble winning a Group 2 off the back of that even with Dettori working his magic. She might get placed but at this stage of her career it is hard to tell how good she really is. Cachet looks a bit out of her depth recently. I am not a fan of Oscula as I have trouble believing the French form is as strong as it could be.

This leaves Hello You, Romantic Time and Majestic Glory to choose between. Hello You only just failed to land a 7f Group 3 last time out losing by 1 ¾ lengths when coming 4th at Goodwood when she became briefly short of room. She performs consistently well at group level and has been placed twice over 6f once at group 2 and once at group 3 level. She has only raced the once at 7f though. At the time of writing Romantic Times price is drifting and but the step up in trip should suit and she won a 6f Group 3 readily in a good time at the beginning of September.

Majestic Glory is a bit of an eye catcher due to the way she beat Wild Beauty in a group 3 who then proceeded to bolt up next time in Canada and won a 1m group 1 easing down. I feel it is hard to think that Majestic glory will not get placed in this as she looks set to win.

The 3.35pm is an eight runner affair with three places available. We have to be cautious and consider that if there is a non-runner this will drop to two places.

We should however work with what we have. Every single horse apart from the favourite and Laneqash are on the drift with William Hill at the time of writing.

I’d quite like to go against Master of the Seas here as so many people will be on him and he has had a big break. In general I think I mainly agree with the betting on this race. Benbatl is obviously respected due to his history in this race and only lost when coming third by 1 length on last year’s renewal. I feel he is vulnerable to any improvers in the field due to his age this time around. At a big price Queen Supreme a previous Group 1 winner at Kenilworth looks an interesting proposition but is the form strong and how will she cope with her return to the track after some time off on her first run for Balding? There are too many variables to pick her.

I think Laneqash could be the answer stepping up in trip here. In the two Group 2 races he has contested. He was short of room last time and finished 2nd the time before by 1 length after losing his shoe. Being a son of Cable Bay he will enjoy the 1m trip he is contesting for the first time. His dam won her maiden over 1m ½ f.

The last race for our purposes is the five runner 4.10pm. This listed race looks difficult and has two places available. We have to be aware a non-runner will make this win only.

John Leeper has not been running well recently. Fox Tal has not won for ages and has been running under par recently. It looks quite tight at the top with Alignak, Star Safari and Without A Fight all holding claims. Star Safari has not really had a good race since February and will need to put in a good run before I can trust him with a task like this even if his yard has done well in this race previously.

So with Alignak and Without A Fight left to potentially win us the Placepot and Quadpot who to choose? Alignak did not impress me last time out so I have to go with Without A Fight who runs consistently well between 1m4f and 2m especially when decent ground is available.