Final Summer Evening Series fixture at Newbury concludes with six spectacular races

The Summer Evening Series at Newbury racecourse draws to a conclusion on Thursday night after three hugely successful evening fixtures throughout July.

The final meeting of the series sees six races held at Newbury, with the first race off at 6.15 before rounding off with a Class 5 Handicap at 8.45 to draw the card to a close, all shown live on Racing TV.

The feature race of the evening is race two on the card, a Maiden Fillies’ Stakes, which is worth a cool £5,000 to the winner and where a number of two-year-olds will make their debuts on a racetrack.

But up first is a 1m2f handicap for amateur jockeys, where Change Of Fortune will be hoping for exactly that for trainer Bernard Lllewellyn. The four-year-old hasn’t finished in the places since 2022 but arrives at Newbury having finished just outside the places last time out at Ffos Las. The market is headed by the Archie Watson-trained Alazwar, looking to snap a streak of consecutive fourth-place finishes.

Race Two could mark the card for some future stars but the eye is certainly drawn to Royal Elysian, who has finished second on both his two starts so far and is aiming to go one better for James Ferguson here. Those seconds were both at Haydock and over 6f, so is up in trip a further furlong heading to Newbury looking to get off the mark in the win column.

The third race on the card arrives at 7.15, where nine runners are entered for a 7f handicap sprint. Jockey David Probert looks to be aboard the best horse in the race and that is justified by the market, where Be Prepared is a 2/1 favourite for the contest off the back of winning at Epsom 22 days ago. Zoukster will almost certainly provide the stiffest competition, having won two of his last three races and finishing second in the other.

Race four at 7.45 sees Cinnodin, a winner three times this campaign, take to the track in the Bob Barker Memorial Handicap. He isn’t the favourite for the race though as that honour goes to Tin Fandango,who was a strong second at Chepstow last time out over the same 2m distance, staying on well inside the final furlong there.

The penultimate race on the card at 8.15 is for the three-year-olds only and Ranger Thunderbolt is aiming for a second win on the spin at Newbury, having finished first here over a slightly shorter trip as an 18-1 shot 22 days ago. Expert Witness and Chester Tonik provide the main threat.

The Summer Evening Series is rounded off by a Class 5 Handicap for horses four-year-old and up. Typical Woman, a winner last time out at haydock, aims for two on the bounce while Stonking, well-backed at the last Summer Evening Series meeting but a disappointing fifth, looks to bounce back to some better form.

Newbury selections - Thursday

6.15 - Alazwar

6.45 - Royal Elysian

7.15 - Zoukster

7.45 - Cinnodin

8.15 - Chester Tonik

8.45 - Daphne May