Preview and tips ahead of Friday’s action at Newbury Racecourse

Dubai Duty Free Weekend kicks off at Newbury on Friday with an eight-race card at the track - with the highlight on day one being the listed Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes worth a cool £50,000.

The action gets underway on Friday at 1.25pm with a maiden stakes in division one, the feature race of the day arrives at 4.05pm and then the action comes to a close on day one at 5.15pm with the Fitzdares Handicap.

Read below to discover the latest tips and a full preview of the action on day one at Newbury this week courtesy of BoyleSports, who offer the latest horse racing odds throughout the season.

The opening contest on Friday’s card sees a field of 13 head to the stalls for the six furlong maiden stakes in division one for two-year-old’s (1.25). Hazeez, for trainer Charlie Fellowes, had looked promising on debut at this track when finishing fifth of 20 in a maiden stakes but has proved expensive to follow since, turned over at Ayr and Yarmouth since but is worth another crack in what is a weak contest for what is traditionally a strong maiden track. Belgrave hails from the Ralph Beckett yards so warrants respect, a £120,000 yearling purchase that was sixth on debut at Kempton just over a fortnight ago.

Race two of the afternoon (1.55) is division two of the same discipline with preference heading the way of I Maximus for trainer Richard Hughes, who was third third on course and distance debut and then subsequently second at Kempton, going off an odds-on favourite both times so while he has been expensive to follow, he’s capable of better and gets the nod here with top jockey Oisin Murphy booked to ride being a plus as well.

A fillies’ condition stakes in class two is race three on Newbury’s card over the seven furlong distance (2.25) with a small field of five runners set to tackle the straight. Trainer Beckett could - arguably should - land a quickfire double on the card with Cathedral, an eye-watering €800,000 breeze up buy for Amo Racing that got off the mark on debut when landing a ten-runner maiden at Lingfield 16 days ago on debut and is surely going on to bigger and better things.

Lakers opened his account for trainer George Boughey at Ffos Las in July and confirmed that promise when second at Beverley just two weeks later, running on well to only narrowly get pipped at the post and is sent handicapping for the first time in race four at Newbury in the class four nursery contest (2.55). Green Icon has been improving plenty for Owen Burrows and rates the main danger, winning at Chelmsford and Haydock in his last two starts.

Five runners will head to the stalls for race five of the afternoon (3.30) which is a class two novice stakes over a mile. Regal Ulixes is the one to beat for trainer Andrew Balding, who was a very promising third on debut in a class two maiden at Goodwood just over a fortnight ago and he can take a massive leap forward here in what is usually a quite informative race going forward into these runners’ three-year-old campaign.

The feature race of the day arrives at 4.05 with the Listed Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes over seven furlongs. Lake Forest won the Gimcrack at York last August and was then a good runner up at Royal Ascot and then at Newbury in the Hackwood Stakes earlier this summer so remains very open to progress for the high-powered William Haggas yard. Nostrum returned to form when second in the Criterion Stakes at Newmarket and can go well here if resuming that sort of form, while Witch Hunter was a winner of the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Hungerford at Newbury last season, so warrants respect here having finished a fine third in a Haydock group three last time out.

The penultimate race on day one’s card (4.40) sees a field of 11 take on the one mile and four fillies’ handicap in class four, with Godolphin’s Blessed Honour getting the nod here having landed a Nottingham novice 85 days ago and returns from a break here, while the finale on the card (5.15) can go the way of Mustazeed for trainer Harry Eustace, a back-to-back course and distance winner last season that hit the frame at Ascot earlier this summer.

Newbury selections - Friday

1.25 - Hazeez

1.55 - I Maximus

2.25 - Cathedral

2.55 - Lakers

3.30 - Regal Ulixes

4.05 - Lake Forest

4.40 - Blessed Honour

5.15 - Mustazeed