Betting expert Dave Nevison has four selections at and Newbury on Saturday, including a strong fancy in the 4.10.
2.40 Newmarket: Koy Koy
George Boughey took Koy Koy over to Meydan last winter but the five-year-old didn’t show his form, and has been rested since March, so hopefully he will be fresh and ready for this return to turf.
He is reunited with Billy “the kid” Loughnane for the first time since the combination were successful at Wolverhampton last September and Koy Koy is back to a mark of 95, only 2lb higher than that win.
He subsequently finished an excellent third at the Ayr Gold Cup meeting off a rating of 99 before losing his form in Dubai, so if he is back to form, he will go well here.
Newmarket should suit his usual running style very well and I would expect Koy Koy to race prominently here, and he could easily have plenty of these in trouble some way out.
3.15 Newmarket: Zozimus
This hold-up performer might not be the obvious type to back on Newmarket's Rowley Mile. or indeed in any race as Zozimus has such a poor strike-rate having only ever won a Dundalk maiden back in 2020.
However, the selection does have a very strong record at this course and possibly ran his best ever race when finishing fourth in the Cambridgeshire in 2021.
More recently, he finished a very good third in a 0-90 big-field handicap over this distance on his penultimate start. He also ran well after fluffing the start when well-backed into favouritism at Haydock last time out, and is clearly believed to be in form plus is a pound lower here.
Jason Watson has been on this tricky ride three times before and each time he has run well, so despite his win record, I am hopeful of a good run here.
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4.10 Newbury: Wiltshire
This is a very good sprint handicap with a few that can be fancied to win handicaps, but
looks as though he might well be the best of them.
He won a maiden as a two-year-old for the Meade team but it didn’t really work out for him as a three-year-old, even though he did win at Chelmsofrd on his final start for the yard.
He is now with William Haggas and made a winning debut for the yard over course and distance last time out when scoring much more convincingly than the narrow margin suggests.
The handicapper has only raised him by 2lb, which is remarkable, and he looks a 'good thing' here, in my opinion, although he might well be priced accordingly. He's opened up at 9-4 with William Hill.
5.00 Newmarket: Above
Robert Cowell has his string of sprinters in good form. He won one of the big handicaps at York this week and seven-year-old Above might be ready to win again here.
He is 2lb lower than when he won on the July course last year, and even though he has always been difficult to predict, it could well be that reuniting with Neil Callan for the first time since that victory could be the key to him regaining winning form.
He certainly has the back form to land a race such as this and now that he is back below his last winning mark, he might be worth chancing at a price.