Tote Placepot picks for Newbury on Saturday from Jack Nicol

There's a minimum guarantee of £150,000 for the Placepot pool at Newbury on Saturday, with the valuable Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes, run over five furlongs, the feature race on their card.

I've got a perm consisting of 48 lines to consider. Best of luck with whatever you're playing in Saturday's Placepot:

Last year's winner Al Aasy sets a decent standard in the opening Listed Steventon Stakes for William Haggas but the seven-year-old is returning from a 287-day layoff and it's notable that Shadwell's retained rider, Jim Crowley, opts to ride the younger and more progressive Alyanaabi.

I was impressed when seeing Alyanaabi in the flesh for the first time at the Guineas meeting back in May, where he looked to possess plenty of size and scope for further improvement and I'm certain he will appreciate the step up to 10 furlongs. 

This represents a marked drop in class from his two Group One assignments this season and it's very hard to see him out of the frame. He should be the cornerstone for every Placepot at Newbury.

I'm sticking with a Shadwell-owned horse in leg two as well with Naqeeb worth another chance in handicaps.

The four-year-old had struggled in two Group Two outings in the early part of the season but ran a much better race in the Copper Horse Stakes at Royal Ascot despite only finishing 12th. The gelding was given a mountain to climb when racing in last position but made late gains all the way to the line, this despite having the door shut on multiple occasions, and therefore he must be considered here. 

I also like Dancing In Paris at the foot of the weights. The four-year-old is firmly on the upgrade at present and made it two wins from his last three starts when scoring at Ascot last week, pulling out more when challenged on either side for a deserved success.

He's found improvement when stepping up in trip so far this season and jumps up in distance again here, moving from a mile-and-a-half to an extended two miles. Provided he doesn't exert too much energy in the early stages, as he can take a pull in his races, then I don't see any reason why he can't be competitive again for the in-form Ian Williams stable.

Regular readers of this article will know I am a huge fan of Regional and he looks an obvious starting point in the Hackwood Stakes having been a late withdrawal when put up as a selection in the July Cup at Newmarket last week.

This Group Three event is obviously a much easier assignment and similar comments to last week remain; he has finished out of the frame just once in his past six outings and this high-class performer looks a Placepot banker here for trainer Ed Bethell.

Diligent Harry has a fairly patchy record on turf but has looked the finished article as a six-year-old so far this year and has run with consistency in all five starts, only falling out of the frame just once.

That effort came last time out in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot, so that can be fairly easily excused as he returns to calmers waters and he will look to build on his excellent record in this race having finished second in the 2021 and 2023 renewals.

With a sole selection taken in the opening leg, we have scope to take a few in the feature contest in leg four, with 19 runners set to head to post for the Weatherbys Super Sprint.

We'll start with Vingegaard who goes in as the main selection. I was impressed with his debut win on soft ground at Chepstow in May and he consolidated that with an excellent fifth in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal ascot last month. The Mehmas colt was always on the speed there, making a bold move to take it up in the centre of the track before ultimately succumbing to the better-positioned trio on the near-side of the track. The stiff finish probably went against him there and this flatter track will be much more to his liking. It's hard to see him out of the frame if replicating that form.

Fillies have a good recent record in this, winning six of the last 10 renewals, and I also like the claims of Harry Eustace's Time For Sandals. I was taken with her winning debut effort at Kempton last month, travelling strongly throughout and value for much more than the narrow margin of victory at the line.

That can be marked up further considering she was disposing of more-experienced rivals and she looks above average. The same trainer and owner combined to take third in this race last year with Payment In Kind and they'll be hoping to hit the frame once again, although I would have preferred a higher draw.

Another filly, Kaadi, rounds off the attack. She's held her form well having had five runs since her debut in April and that was probably a career-best effort when runner-up in a Listed race at Deauville at the beginning of the month. Unlike the other two, she is drawn among the higher numbers, which has usually been the place to be in this race.

Placepot punters will have to earn their corn from leg five onwards, with two novice events to close out the Placepot.

This race looks particularly tricky with only three of the 12 runners having set foot on a racecourse to this point, with The Waco Kid setting the standard from those with prior experience.

Instead, I'm going to take a pair of debutants with the regally-bred Brave Mission first up. He hails from a wonderful Juddmonte family which goes back to Dancing Brave, with a host of Group performers featuring more recently. As a son of Frankel he is sure to get further in time but his dam was a fast and precocious type and there's enough there to suggest Brave Mission can feature on debut.

Archie Watson has enjoyed plenty of juvenile success since setting up in 2016 and his runner here, Yafaarr, looks another likely type on paper. The son of Blue Point sold for 280,000gns at the backend of last year and is sure to know his job on racecourse introduction.

Thankfully, there's quite a bit of form to go on in the closing leg of the Placepot with Loves Loving showing promise on both her starts to date. The daughter of Expert Eye completely blew the start when fourth on debut at Goodwood in May but built on that to finish third at Chelmsford on her only other outing.

She was a little outpaced that day and this step up to a mile-and-a-half will be much more to her liking with further improvement likely.

Something was clearly amiss with Dubai Melody when disappointing at Wolverhampton at the backend of last season. This will be her first outing since, suggesting that was the case, but her debut effort prior to that was chock full of promise as she finished second at Newmarket. The re-opposing Malavelly was a well-beaten sixth that day and that is the standout form on offer in this field. If ready to go on reappearance, she can be expected to be one of the leading players here.