WORLD Pool is in operation for the first five races on the card from Newmarket today, where the feature is the Group One Dewhurst Stakes (3.00pm).
It’s a race that sees ZAVATERI and Gstaad lock horns once again, after the former narrowly got the better of the argument in the National Stakes at the Curragh last month.
Eve Johnson Houghton’s two-year-old showed true grit there in a driving finish to take his career record to four wins from four starts.
Gstaad will be a major threat once again and is set to be suited to his stiffer trip on drying ground, but I can see his old rival emerging on top once again.
The presence of Gstaad as well as Godolphin’s Distant Storm at the head of the market mean Zavateri might fly under the radar once again.
That’s exactly what we’re looking for when betting with World Pool (via Tote.co.uk for punters in the UK & Ireland) as international punters are likely to focus on the big names, and consequently horses from lesser-known yards often are under bet and offer value.
With that in mind, I’ll be siding with Zavateri in World Pool’s Win and Place markets, in the hope he can maintain his unbeaten record.
The Cesarewitch (3.40pm) is one of the historic handicaps of the Flat season, run over two miles and two furlongs on the Rowley Mile.
Irish-trained horses, and often those hailing from yards better associated with jumpers, have an excellent record in this extreme staying contest.
I fancy we could see another Irish winner in the shape of REVEREND HUBERT, who was an impressive winner of the Cesarewitch Trial over this course and distance a few weeks ago.
Under a penalty for that success, he lines up off a mark of 83, a pound lower than when finishing eighth in this race last year.
The ground at Newmarket is very quick for the time of year and is currently described as good-to-firm, which should suit Charles Byrnes’ seven-year-old much better than the soft he encountered in last year’s race.
With three-time Cesarewitch winner Silvestre de Sousa a notable jockey booking, he’s the one I’d side with in World Pool’s Win and Place markets.
A World Pool Quinella offers the chance of a big return from a minor outlay if we can predict the first two finishers, in any order, so alongside Reverend Hubert, I’ll throw Hughie Morrision’s CAPRELO into the mix.
This is a horse that has been significantly improved by the application of blinkers and he could still be a good way ahead of his mark with those aids retained.
Finally, it’s also worth adding last year’s winner of the race, ALPHONSE LE GRANDE, into the Quinella equation.
While Tony Martin’s charge may be higher in the weights this year, he warmed up for this with an eye-catching effort when fifth at York last month, and that should have left him spot on for this.
POINTERS
Zavateri (Win and Place) 3.00pm Newmarket
Reverend Hubert (Win and Place) 3.40pm Newmarket
Reverend Hubert, Caprelo, Alphonse Le Grande
(Quinella) 3.40pm Newmarket