There will be seven live races in ITV this Saturday with coverage from Newbury, Ripon and Newmarket.
- 1:50 Newbury: Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Geoffrey Freer Stakes – Nightime Dancer @ 6/1
- 2:05 Newmarket: JenningsBet Grey Horse Handicap – Addison Grey @ 7/2
- 2:25 Newbury: D&H, Excellence In Nutrition Handicap – Rhythm N Hooves @ 4/1
- 2:45 Ripon: William Hill Supporting MND Silver Cup Handicap – Kats Bob @ 11/1
- 3:00 Newbury: TPT Fire Handicap – Classic @ 10/3
- 3:20 Ripon: William Hill/MND Association Great St Wilfrid Handicap – Mister Sox @ 8/1
- 3:35 Newbury: Visit Malta Hungerford Stakes – More Thunder @ 10/3
The standout meeting on Saturday comes from Newbury and their Hungerford Day. There will be four races televised live, beginning with Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes. An argument can be made for each of the six runners, but our preference is for Richard Hannon’s Nightime Dancer who was outclassed by Scandinavia in the Bahrain Trophy last time out but won’t find an opponent of that standard here.
A 5f handicap follows with Getreadytorumble for Jack Channon and Robert Cowell’s Rhythm N Hooves at the top of the market in an open looking contest. A 7f handicap is next which has Richard Hannon’s Classic at the top of the betting after narrowly missing out on a valuable handicap at Ascot three weeks ago.
The big race of the day is next, the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes which is also run over 7f. More Thunder for William Haggas is the worthy favourite having won three out of four starts this season including in the Bunbury Cup last month. The main challengers look set to be John and Thady Gosden’s Spy Chief, Richard Newland’s Witness Stand and King’s Gamble for Ralph Beckett.
Ripon’s big summer meeting, the William Hill Great St Wilfrid Day, will also take place on Saturday with two races on the card to be shown on ITV. The 6f Silver Cup Handicap is followed by the Great St Wilfred itself, also a handicap over 6f. There are currently seventeen runners set to go to post in an ultra-competitive renewal. Tim Easterby’s Mister Sox knows his way around this track and gets our vote.
The single live race from Newmarket on Saturday will be the Grey Horse Handicap, where each entrant is grey. Clive Cox’s Addison Grey disappointed in fourth when favourite in last week’s Racing League fixture at Chepstow but can get back on track on the July Course.