We have the tips, pace guide, views from connections and key video replays for the bet365 Cambridgeshire at Newmarket on Saturday.
3.40 Newmarket - bet365 Cambridgeshire
Andrew Asquith - Toimy Son
My selection Toimy Son ran well in testing conditions when trained in France, so hopefully the ground won't be too much of a hinderance for him, as David Menuisier has seemingly found the key to him of late. He bolted up in the Golden Mile at Glorious Goodwood and shaped much better than the bare result back there last time. Toimy Son shapes as though he'll stay this longer trip, while stamina on the dam's side of his pedigree adds further hope, and he remains on a mark he can be competitive from. William Buick is also a positive booking (40% strike rate when riding for Menuisier this season).
Matt Brocklebank - Paddy The Squire
Paddy The Squire has plenty going for him in the bet365 Cambridgshire, including the ability to cope well when the mud is flying. He stays further than the nine-furlong trip too, isn’t fully exposed as a handicapper and appears to be lining up in great heart following placed efforts at Hamilton and Chester. He’s better off with Hamilton winner Theoryofeverything at the weights and sneaks un here under a low weight, with a high draw to boot. I reckon the layers have him all wrong, in short.
Ben Linfoot - James McHenry
James McHenry has won on soft ground on the undulations of Ripon and I reckon the nine-furlong test in the Cambridgeshire is just what he wants. His form all summer has been very solid in some top handicaps where he has just been outpaced over a mile, typified by his very good fourth in the red-hot Clipper Handicap at York last time. The extra furlong on softer ground should play to his strengths and he can go well for the Ed Bethell yard at a big price.
Specific Pace Hint : The predicted end-to-end pace will probably mean ROI DE FRANCE (IRE) could lose the usual advantage prominent racers have at this trip here round here while BOPEDRO (FR) will probably come more into things.
Individual Price Hint : PADDY THE SQUIRE can be expected to be off the lead early so in view of how the race promises to develop isn't one to give up on early given his record of winning after trading much higher than Betfair SP.
What the connections say
Emmet Mullins has his sights on another prestigious Newmarket handicap as This Songisforyou.
Mullins is no stranger to picking up some of Britain’s most valuable events and having landed the Cesarewitch with The Shunter last October, is back on the Rowley Mile in a bid to add the other half of the autumn double, albeit a year later.
His candidate arrives having claimed a competitive Curragh event over 10 furlongs earlier this month – also performing with real credit in a feature event at the Galway Festival before that.
“He’s an exciting horse and it was great to get the win the last day,” said Mullins. “Things seem to have fallen into place with him, but I’m not sure how many horses are able to carry off two of these big races in such a short space of time and I think our work will be cut out. He seems in good order and this has been on the radar since the Galway Festival. After he finished third in the big handicap there, the owner had this in mind, and it has definitely been on the radar.”
Dylan Cunha, who enjoyed a landmark Group Two victory with Prague on Friday’s Newmarket card, is confident he has Silver Sword in the right form to make his presence felt, but has had his optimism curtailed by the testing conditions following significant rain on Thursday into Friday.
Cunha said: “This ground would not be ideal, but it is what it is and he’s well in himself – we were fairly confident until the forecast the last few days. He has the right draw and the outside seems faster than the inside and he’s well handicapped. I think it’s a strong Cambridgeshire and one of the strongest I’ve seen in the last few years, but he’s in good form and hopefully he will run well.”
Roi De France may be one of the least experienced in the field but produced the perfect prep run when second at Yarmouth recently and is backed to continue on his upwards curve by big-race jockey Oisin Murphy.
“He did nothing wrong at Yarmouth, he was still a bit babyish and it was his first time in a handicap,” said Murphy when analysing the Bjorn Nielsen-owned colt’s chances. “He had to go left at Yarmouth and come behind horses and it was a perfect prep run. It’s a big field and going to be a different story this time round, but hopefully I can follow the right ones. You would think he would go with juice in the ground. Obviously it is testing now and it’s not going to dry out too much.”
Also carrying a progressive profile is William Haggas’ Godwinson, who arrives on the back of a game success at Goodwood over a mile.
“I didn’t end up riding him at Goodwood, I was sidelined, but it looked like a good performance,” said his rider Tom Marquand. “He looked like he enjoyed the (good to soft) ground there and the trip looks perfect, so hopefully he can go well.”
Coeur D’Or and Penzance were both declared as non-runners before the cut-off to allow reserves Ebt’s Guard and Poniros to take their places in the field, with Watcha Matey and Crack Shot also taken out of the race on Friday.
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