Frankie Making National Headlines as We Chase a Winner
This Saturday, there are four Group races on an excellent Newmarket card, where the famous Cesarewitch Handicap has attracted a full complement of 34 runners. All five races will be broadcast on ITV Racing. As an unexpected bonus, the going is not forecast to be bottomless or even soft!
The jumps season is also back open for business. Chepstow Racecourse, staging a competitive card starting at 1.55 pm, hoped to welcome Rachael Blackmore. But the Irish star now takes a rare ride on the flat. She will partner Jackfinbar for Willie Mullins in the Cesarewitch.
Mawj (right), pictured when beating Tahiyra in the 1000 Guineas, will return to action in America on Saturday evening. ©GettyImages
Given Blackmore’s popularity, it is unlikely Jackfinbar will still be available on 66/1 on race day. The best horse racing betting sites offer enhanced each-way terms of five and even six paying places in this contest, making this contender and many other big-priced runners an attractive each-way play.
Frankie Is Going Nowhere, but Will Troy Go Shorter?
We cannot bring ourselves to make a selection in a field as big as that which will face the starter in the 2024 Grand National. That’s right, on Thursday it was announced that the Grand National will be limited to 34 runners – from its current 40 maximum – from next year onwards.
In other horse racing news, Frankie Dettori, ten months into his farewell tour, has made a U-turn on his retirement plans. On Thursday, he posted a video on X (formerly Twitter), explaining, “I’ve decided to prolong my career. I’m going to go to the United States from next year …and keep on following me”.
Frankie Says Stay! Dettori has announced he will continue riding into 2024 in the USA. ©GettyImages
Sunday’s horseracing headlines might be all about City of Troy. Already 5/2 favourite to win the 2024 2000 Guineas, the son of Group-1 winning Together Forever, is the only unbeaten runner and the obvious choice in Newmarket’s Dewhurst Stakes at 2.00 pm.
Chalden won last season’s Dewhurst Stakes and completed the 2000 Guineas double in the spring. Churchill and Frankel are other horses that have won both races. The omens are, therefore, good, but if successful on Saturday, how much shorter can City of Troy realistically go in the ante-post 2000 Guineas betting?
Mawj on a Mile Mission to Keep Up Family Tradition
Stateside, all eyes will be on this year’s 1000 Guineas winner, Mawj. Absent from the racecourse since winning the one-mile Newmarket classic in May, Oisin Murphy has been booked to ride the Godolphin-owned filly in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland.
Mawj brings excellent form to the table. When winning the Guineas, she outbattled Tahiyra in a protracted duel. That filly later won the Irish 1000 Guineas, the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group-1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.
However, training setbacks have kept Mawj, who wintered in Dubai last year, off the track for over five months. It is, therefore, difficult to predict how she will perform on Saturday. Fit and sound, she would surely trounce her rivals.
If Mawj does score, her next target is the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. Interestingly, in 2022, the $2 million contest was won by Modern Games – a Dubawi colt that is a half-brother to the classic winning filly.
35 Pound Rise May Not Keep Courtland Down
Saturday will provide excellent form pointers to many forthcoming major races. But Courtland’s connections are probably not looking beyond Chepstow’s Native River Handicap Chase, due off at 2.30 pm. This Peter Bowen-trained horse has been kept busy during the summer months, and that fitness could give him a significant advantage.
The eight-year-old has not simply been making up the numbers. Since the end of May, Courtland has raced on five occasions, winning four times. He was defeated once – finishing second to a rival that franked the form by winning next time – and, landing his latest start by a dozen lengths, he has risen 35 pounds in the handicap.
Proven over Saturday’s two-mile seven-furlong trip – so far, the further he has gone, the better he has performed – and against many potentially ring-rusty rivals, Courtland rates as our best bet of the day.
