Friday’s six-race card offers plenty of value at Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse hosts a competitive six-race afternoon jumps card tomorrow that includes one thoroughly unexposed Grade 2 winner and an interesting handicap debutante.
The action starts at 2.13pm with a two-mile four-and-a-half-furlong conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle and concludes at 5.05pm with a three-mile handicap hurdle.
Read below for the latest tips and a full preview of Newbury’s meeting on Friday courtesy of Betway, who offer the latest Cheltenham Festival odds.
The opening two-mile four-and-a-half-furlong conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle (2.13) could give French Symphony a nice chance to get his head in front.
His bumper form was good in the 2023-24 season as he finished third to Jackpot Des Bordes before finishing third again to Royal Infantry in January 2024.
He was sent off favourite for two of his three maiden hurdles and he dipped his hoof into handicap company last month. With Callum Pritchard’s valuable six-pound claim, he can run well off an official rating of 106.
In the next contest, a two-mile and half-a-furlong juvenile hurdle at 2.48, Give It To Me Oj can record his first success over hurdles.
His form is fairly solid, notably his third to East India Dock at Wincanton on hurdles debut, and he finished ahead of Lavender Hill Mob and Marche d’Aligre at Haydock earlier this month.
His ability on the Flat last year was clear to see and he is a half-brother to the two-time Listed Flat winner Grey’s Monument. He looks like the obvious option.
All Authorized ran no sort of race on his chase debut last month, but he gets to run off his true mark on Friday and that gives him a fine chance of landing the two-mile four-furlong novices’ handicap chase (3.23).
He ran in a limited novices’ handicap chase last month and carried a rating of 111 which was four pounds higher than his actual rating.
This week, he runs off his true rating of 105 which could see him to best effect. He was second at Newbury in March 2024 and his third to Sea Invasion at Plumpton two months later is a fine piece of form.
Race four is a two-mile four-and-a-half-furlong novices’ hurdle and Horaces Pearl is likely to be the warm favourite.
Even so, he has some nice form in the book and he gets the vote here.
He’s unbeaten so far for Fergal O’Brien and his success in a Grade 2 bumper at the Aintree Grand National Festival last year is working out well thanks to Tripoli Flyer, Good And Clever, Valgrand, and No Questions Asked.
He also won comfortably on his hurdles debut at Huntingdon and there’s nothing to suggest that he can’t back that up here.
In the penultimate contest, a two-mile half-a-furlong handicap chase, Ballybreeze could cause a minor surprise for Samuel Drinkwater.
The trainer has two in the race, but it’s interesting to see that Sean Bowen will get the leg up on this one of the pair and he has the benefit of race fitness over his stablemate Rath Gaul Hill.
The nine-year-old has dropped to a mark of 110 which is the rating he had when winning at Chepstow in October 2022.
Admittedly, that was a long time ago, but he’s only had five runs since due to a few setbacks.
He looked like the winner when falling at Market Rasen off 120 in April 2023, so if he returns to his best form, he looks well-handicapped.
In the finale, a three-mile handicap hurdle, it may be worth chancing the handicap debutante Gamesters Guy for Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero.
Connections ran him in a Grade 2 at Cheltenham on Trials Day after he comfortably won a Carlisle novice hurdle, and he performed well to finish fifth to Sixmilebridge and Potters Charm.
Three starts ago, he was a close second to Navajo Indy at Bangor, and that form looks nice now as Navajo Indy went on to win the Gerry Feilden and finish third in the valuable William Hill Hurdle subsequently.
If Gamersters Guy handles this new trip, he looks dangerous.
Newbury selections - Friday
2.13 - French Symphony
2.48 - Give It To Me Oj
3.23 - All Authorized
3.58 - Horaces Pearl
4.33 - Ballybreeze
5.05 - Gamesters Guy
