Rory Delargy’s Newmarket Tips
13:45 – Chairmanoftheboard
14:20 – Majestic
14:55 – Mitbaahy
15:35 – City Of Troy
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
13:45 – Chairmanoftheboard
The opening sprint is an early-closing event and that often gives an advantage to punters with careful placing ensuring one or more runners are ahead of their marks, while others beaten recently will be forced to run off similar marks despite being dropped. In fairness, that is of limited use with only one horse officially well in, and that to the tune of just 1lb.
The good news is that the horse in question has also got an excellent record in this race, and that makes him look a solid each-way bet. Step up Chairmanoftheboard, who ran a cracker to be second in a similar event at Newbury last time and has been placed in the last two runnings of this race on good and yielding ground.
His record in Class 2 6f handicaps on similar ground is a solid 10323322 with the only poor run at Goodwood, where he’s failed to make the frame on all three handicap starts. With Abate, the likely pacesetter, drawn next to him, he looks well positioned to come with a late run on the stands side.
14:20 – Majestic
This trip, over which the Cambridgeshire is run, is seen as one for specialists, so although he was unplaced in this contest last year on soft ground, it’s not hard to promote the chances of 2022 Cambridgeshire winner Majestic, who again ran well over track and trip in the latest renewal of that big handicap. He finished behind three of today’s rivals in a 1m handicap at the track at the Craven Meeting, but while that makes it sound like he’s held, it’s worth noting that the first six home that day were covered by less than a length, and that there is therefore very little to choose between them in a rematch.
It’s also worth noting that Jack Channon has an impressive record of seven wins from 35 runners in four-year-old+ handicaps this season, and that solid record in handicaps is in evidence since he took over the licence from his father Mick. Majestic has yet to add to that record, with Mick’s retirement coming immediately after his Cambridgeshire win in 2022. I’d be surprised if that continues to be the case for much longer.
14:55 – Mitbaahy
I’ve always considered that the talented Mitbaahy needed fast ground to show his best form, but he blew that notion out of the water when winning over 6f at Chester last August. He returned with an excellent fourth to Washington Heights in the Abernant Stakes here last month, and while this represents a drop in trip, he has looked equally effective at 5f in the past, particularly when badly drawn in the Temple Stakes at Haydock around this time last year, while all four of his wins prior to Chester were over the minimum trip. The five-year-old remains open to improvement after an interrupted campaign last term and is the type to make a bigger impact in the top sprints this season.
15:35 – City Of Troy
I’ve never been one to believe in the adage “the bigger race, the bigger the bet”, particularly when it comes to the 2000 Guineas, dubbed the last two-year-old race of the season. Juvenile form is all important and the Guineas is often won by the horse who is most precocious, but its status also ensures that many outstanding colts take the ‘2000’ on the road to greatness.
If we believe our eyes and our ears, City Of Troy is both the most precociously brilliant colt in this contest and also the most exciting for the future with the son of Justify hailed as the best Aidan O’Brien has had through his hands. It’s not too hard to back up that claims in terms of juvenile talent, but it’s a different matter when such colts return to racing as three-year-olds.
Of course, when Aidan O’Brien speaks, we listen. After a devastating Dewhurst win, Aidan waxed lyrical about a colt who was truly exceptional in his mind. “He’s something that we haven’t had before,” he said. “I’d say no doubt, the size of him and the scope, and the class and the way he travelled, and when you let him go, he delivers. His mind was very good today, he was in a different zone, he was relaxed and easy. He learned about the Dip and racing, and we couldn’t be more happy with him.”
That’s the good news. It almost makes you want to re-mortgage the house, doesn’t it? The bad news is that quote came, not after City of Troy’s Dewhurst, but after Air Force Blue won the race in 2015. Like City of Troy, he was an outstanding colt by a brilliant young sire and appeared to have the world at his feet, but they turned out to be feet of clay; his Classic season turned into a bitter disappointment, starting with a twelfth place finish in the 2000 Guineas when an odds-on shot and ending with humiliation in a lowly Group 3.
It’s a cautionary tale for those relying on last season’s form but it needn’t be prophetic for City of Troy. We want to see outstanding two-year-olds train on as well as envisaged, and I would love to see City of Troy show himself to be in Frankel’s class with an authoritative win.
Rory Delargy’s Newmarket Tips
13:45 – Chairmanoftheboard
14:20 – Majestic
14:55 – Mitbaahy
15:35 – City Of Troy
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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