Ben Linfoot free horse racing tips for ITV racing at Newmarket Sunday May 5
Our form expert has had 10/1, 12/1, 25/1 and 11/2 winners in his last four columns - don't miss his two bets for Newmarket on Sunday.
The Verdict: Sunday, May 5
1pt e.w Kihavah in 3.00 Newmarket at 14/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
1pt e.w Sacred Angel in 3.40 Newmarket at 50/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
Angel delight in 1000 Guineas
The Qipco 1000 Guineas looks wide open and while Fallen Angel and Ylang Ylang bring Group 1-winning juvenile form to the table neither look to have set a standard that is insurmountable for their rivals to bridge.
It’s difficult for punters and bookmakers to weigh up this race given all the guesswork involved in the different maturity rates of these fillies, with several long absences and a mixed bag of form from the trials adding to the confusion.
In the last 15 years we’ve had seven double-figure price winners including winning fillies at 16/1, 20/1, 25/1 and 66/1, so it’s clearly not a bad race to get the bat out and chance one each-way at big odds.
With that in mind I do like the 50/1 about SACRED ANGEL for Charlie Johnston getting the four places, as she put together a good body of work at two and looks underestimated.
The daughter of Dark Angel first came to prominence on the July Course when she just about made all for her maiden success, before she went to Ascot on King George day and slammed this spring’s Nell Gwyn winner, Pretty Crystal, by three lengths.
Nice ground clearly suits on that evidence, so she deserves credit for running an excellent fourth in very soft ground in the Prix Morny, where she stuck to her task well behind Vandeek, Ramatuelle and River Tiber.
Ramatuelle is talented as her 8/1 odds for the 1000 Guineas suggest, but Sacred Angel wasn’t far behind her and on nicer ground she could well reverse the form.
Sacred Angel’s final port of call at two was another trip to Newmarket where she gained experience of the Rowley Mile in the Group 1 Cheveley Park, doing well to get as close as she did in third after running with the choke out early doors.
That was very encouraging regarding her ability to compete at the highest level and there is plenty of hope in her pedigree that she will stay the mile, being a half-sister to a couple of horses that stay a mile and more.
Johnston admits he was in two minds about her early-season target given the trip question mark, but he’s been convinced enough by what he’s seen at home and in a racecourse gallop at this track to let her take her chance.
With the ground in her favour you can see the logic in letting her loose and she can outrun her price in a big way under Jason Hart.
The Verdict: Back SACRED ANGEL (E.W) in the 3.40 Newmarket
Watch out for Keatley charge
Earlier on the card Adrian Keatley’s KIHAVAH looks a bet in the William Hill Handicap over 1m6f.
The seven-year-old improved massively for wind surgery and the application of a tongue-tie last year, winning off marks of 81, 86 and 93 during a golden run that ended when he was an excellent second off 96 behind Live Your Dream in the prestigious bet365 Trophy on Newmarket’s July Course.
He finished ahead of another rapid improver in Prydwen on a couple of occasions and it could be his absence for the rest of the season has protected his mark as he still looks capable in this kind of race off 97.
In February he returned from 204 days off at Kempton, but that looked nothing more than a pipe opener given his average all-weather record and his seven-month break.
As it was he made quite an eye-catching move to get himself into contention from the rear before he got tired, and it looks likely his team have simply been waiting for better ground before unleashing him this campaign.
He loves a galloping track, so the Rowley Mile should really suit, and this should play out nicely for him if Tom Marquand tracks the likes of Torcello and Struth.
The Verdict: Back KIHAVAH (E.W) in the 3.00 Newmarket
Preview posted at 1455 BST on 04/05/24
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