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Sam King continued his red-hot run of form with 9/4 and 15/2 winners yesterday and he’s back with three more selections on this fine Friday.
Newcastle's Northumberland Plate meeting heads into the second day and the JenningsBet In Pontefract Gosforth Park Cup Handicap at 6.00 looks like an excellent betting heat.
It's easy to make a case for plenty of horses throughout but even off a career-high mark of 100 I still think Badri has something up his sleeve.
The form of Ruth Carr's yard going into this is a slight concern (1-22, 5% - last 14 days), but she saddled a winner at Hamilton last night and has had horses running well without winning.
The now eight-time winner started life off a mark of 80 when joining Ruth Carr in March 2022 and the Yorkshire-based trainer has done nothing but improve him since.
It was a typically competitive Epsom handicap he landed on Derby Day, and you can probably mark up his neck success that day given he had to come from some way back.
The runner-up and third-placed horses since finished second and seventh in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot to give the form some substance and I suspect this contest has been on the agenda for Badri for some time.
Stall fourteen should ensure he gets a nice toe into the race against what can often be the favoured stands' side rail and I'm siding with the progressive six-year-old to maintain his unbeaten record (2-2) over course and distance by recording a fifth success at the Gosforth Park venue.
Selection: Badri – General 3/1
Heads turn to the Roodee for our second selection and Ralph Beckett's Balance Play should take some pegging back in the Expleo Handicap at 8.30.
The son of Lope De Vega has run well in four outings to date and certainly stayed the ten-furlong trip when third in a hot handicap at Epsom early last month.
The form looks to have worked out nicely with the winner going on to finish fourth in the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot and the runner-up scoring as he liked in a Pontefract handicap last-time-out.
Balance Play has been ridden prominently on all four starts to date and I'm fully expecting Hector Crouch to ride the gelding positively from stall one.
The extra half furlong can bring out some further improvement and he can defy a 2lb nudge up the weights by getting off the mark at the fifth time of asking.
Selection: Balance Play – General 15/8
We head to Newmarket for our third and final wager and the progressive Pinafore can land the spoils in the Ubettabelieveit Bred At Ringfort Stud Fillies' Handicap at 8.10.
William Haggas' filly showed plenty of promise at two and shaped as though she just needed the run a touch in a decent-looking Class 2 Newmarket (Rowley Mile) handicap on her reappearance in April.
The form looks rock-solid with the runner-up winning back at the same venue subsequently before an unlucky second at Goodwood and the third-placed horse going on to Listed success prior to chasing home the high-class Little Big Bear in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock.
The daughter of Dark Angel duly got off the mark as a three-year-old when scoring snugly at Pontefract last-time-out and I fully expect her to take some stopping racing off just 3lb higher this time around.
Selection: Pinafore – General 6/4
