Cesarewitch Preview: David Ord tips for Newmarket showpiece

The top of the market for Saturday’s Club Godolphin Cesarewitch has a very familiar look. Because in recent times the big staying handicaps on the Flat have been regularly plundered by the Irish jumping juggernauts and they’re at it again at the weekend.

Take the favourite Sea Of Sands, for example. Trained by Willie Mullins, he’s already as low as 4/1 despite having never raced on the level in Ireland or England and only having had one outing for the Closutton team.

That came at Listowel in September when he sauntered clear to win a maiden hurdle. It was his first run since August 2022 while his back-form includes a Group Three success at Hoppegarten in May 2021.

How do you go about giving him a rating? 100 was the guess. The market this week will probably speak volumes with William Buick already booked to ride.

As it will about second favourite Jacovec Cavern, trained a hop and skip away from his market rival by Willie’s nephew Emmett.

He won a Newbury handicap in October 2022 off 76 on his final start for Mick Channon before switching to Paul Hennessy for a juvenile hurdling career. That never quite took off despite ambitious tilts at the Triumph Hurdle and Grade One at Punchestown before he too had a spell on the sidelines.

It was 459 days in this case and he was back for the new team at the Galway Festival. All-the-rage for 50-80 two-mile handicap, he came home strongly to finish second behind Busselton, finding himself with too much to do.

He’s up three pounds to 83 on Saturday but you can see why he’s short for a yard that also have last year’s winner The Shunter in the frame.

The other runner in the field at a single-figure price is Sixandahalf for Gavin Cromwell. She’s more of a known quantity having won a fillies’ handicap on the July Course in August and running very well to finish third to The Euphrates in the Irish Cesarewitch a couple of weeks ago.

Then there’s Run For Oscar for Charles Byrnes, Dawn Rising and Magellan Strait for Joseph O’Brien and two for Gordon Elliott.

Samui is towards the top of the weights with James Doyle already booked but arguably more interesting at 16/1 right now is NDAAWI.

This is a horse who relishes the hurly-burly of a big-field handicap having finished third in the Fred Winter in March and second to Nurburgring in the Galway Hurdle when last seen.

There’s form on the level too that puts him in the mix. He was seventh in the Ascot Stakes at Royal Ascot in June when seemingly ridden to get the trip. He proved there he does stay and might be a different proposition on an easier surface at the weekend.

Warmonger, Premiere Ligne and Manxman are the shortest-priced runners for the home team but at a much bigger price EVALUATION, trained by another leading jumps trainer in Lucinda Russell, is worth a second look.

He has been mainly campaigned on artificial surfaces in recent seasons, finishing second in the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle in June.

His last two runs have been on turf though and he’s shaped OK in the good two-mile handicap at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival and the Mallard at Doncaster.

On both occasions he’s found steadily-run races against him, running on late having faced an inadequate stamina test. That won’t be the case at the weekend and he can run better than the general 33/1 on offer would suggest.

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