Classy duo Flowerhead and Novelette look set to face off in this afternoon’s premier contest from Newbury – live on Sky Sports Racing.
4.45 Newbury – Classy pair Flowerhead and Novelette feature
A cracking field of 14 line up for this Listed Sequoia Hair & Spirit St Hugh’s Stakes at Newbury.
Charlie Clover saddles Flowerhead, who brings in plenty of experience including when finishing runner-up in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. She followed that with a satisfactory fifth in the Princess Margaret and is sure to be popular on this drop in Grade and trip.
Novelette arrives seeking a hat-trick having scored at Yarmouth and Sandown on her last two starts but will need to step up again in this better contest. Billy Loughnane won this race last year aboard Englemere and will aim to repeat the trick aboard Daneh of Dandy, who made a successful step down to five furlongs under Harry Davies the last day.
Killavia has improved with every start for Rod Millman and as such, enters calculations in the hands of Lewis Edmunds. Debut winner Hollywood Treasure and Sandown victor Entailed look likely types to fill the places.
3.05 Newbury – Recent winners Sunny Smile and Indy B clash
In-form pair Sunny Smile and Indy B clash in this Daily Bet Boosts At BetVictor Nursery Handicap.
Sunny Smile improved for having undergone a gelding operation when winning at Hamilton last month and rates a key contender off an opening mark of 81.
Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle team up with Indy B who built on her debut to dead-heat in a Salisbury novice and should have more to offer in handicaps.
Retaining his mark of 75 after back-to-back finishes in the places, Ahead Of Fashion holds each-way claims for Dominic Ffrench-Davis whilst Dark Alley is worth considering after comfortably landing the odds at Bath recently.
4.35 Yarmouth – Snow Master takes on Divine Knight
Snow Master and Divine Knight do battle in this Devon’s V J Remembrance Day “Confined” Novice Stakes at Yarmouth.
Tom Dascombe’s Snow Master made a scintillating winning debut over seven furlongs at this course back in July last year and his reappearance is eagerly anticipated up to a mile.
Sean Woods’ four-year-old Divine Knight is rated 88 after two starts. Successful on his first outing at Thirsk, he struggled to land a blow in a classy conditions stakes at Goodwood, and will appreciate this lesser grade.
Koge was sent off favourite when disappointing on debut at Chelmsford in April and has undergone a wind surgery since then.
Best of the rest
Yarmouth’s card gets underway with a four-runner British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes, headlined by the Charlie Appleby-trained Catallus. Experience may well pay dividends for this son of Invincible Spirit, who chased home Juddmonte’s smart colt Publish last time out at Sandown. William Buick’s mount will have to be wary of the Amo-owned Armstrong, who showed flashes of ability when third on debut at Lingfield last month.
At Newbury, the 3.40pm Highclere Horse Feeds EBF Fillies’ Novice Stakes sees 470,000gns purchase Butterfly Beach run for Kieran Shoemark and Ed Walker, with Carefree also a runner to note in the Westerberg colours for Ollie Sangster.
Half an hour later, George Boughey hands a first start to Bow Echo – a son of Night Thunder owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid. He’ll go into battle for the TPT Fire Supports St Michaels Hospice EBF Maiden Stakes alongside Night Patrol, who is related to globetrotter Bravo Zulu.