NEWCASTLE SATURDAY

OFFICIAL handicappers take few chances with easy winners and many form students wondered if Withhold’s 12lb increase for running away with the Cesarewitch would halt his progress. Nothing could have been further from the truth as Roger Charlton’s 5/1 favourite made all in Saturday’s Stobart Rail & Civils Northumberland Plate at Newcastle, passing the post nearly three lengths ahead of Prince Of Arran.

This was one of the most impressive staying performances of recent months. Quickly away for Robert Winston, Withhold was soon bowling along in an easy rhythm and never saw a rival from start to finish.

Asked to settle the issue just over two furlongs from home, he responded and was being eased down with the race in safe keeping as Prince Of Arran came from out of the pack. Sir Chauvelin excelled in third after his Royal Ascot exertions, with Watersmeet taking fourth, not that any of them had the ghost of a chance with the winner.

Charlton is a trainer of the old school and his placing of horses is immaculate. Clearly no one at Beckhampton was worried about the long gap back to the Newmarket marathon because Withhold was working particularly well. In the following days, Charlton stated that the Melbourne Cup has been the plan for a long time for Withhold, as it is a race that both he and Tony Bloom dream about winning.

Charlton’s son Harry said at Newcastle: “We came here pretty confident he was fit. He travels a lot sweeter at home this year and can lay up with group horses. We’ll have to map out where we go but if everything ends in Australia it helps to have won a Cesarewitch, a Northumberland Plate and a stakes race.”

The betting beforehand was interesting, Withhold having been installed as favourite as soon as the ante-post market opened. He was as short as 100/30 on Wednesday but drifted on course, only to edge back to 5/1. His owner, Tony Bloom, made his money as a bookmaker specialising in football, most notably Asian handicaps. He is now chairman of Brighton in the Premier League.

Winston’s immediate opinion was that the other jockeys had handed him the race but that seemed rather harsh. Prince Of Arran did well from a high draw but perhaps the one to watch with the Cesarewitch in mind is Island Brave, who was right out the back on the far side but stayed on steadily to finish fifth. A huge Geordie crowd witnessed proceedings, all the misgivings about switching to a Tapeta track suddenly seeming part of another world.

VASE

That world did not include so many ‘consolation’ races but there is a Betfred Northumberland Vase over the Plate course and distance now and it went to Gay Kelleway’s 33/1 shot Cosmelli who won by inches from Euchen Glen.

Kelleway is having a much better year and her main claim to fame also remains intact as she is still the only woman to have ridden a winner at Royal Ascot – Sprowston Boy in the Queen Alexandra Stakes in 1987.

The jockey was Daniel Muscutt, who was given a rare opportunity in a race worth €40,000 to the winner, and he was seen at his strongest. Unfortunately, it was no great surprise when the stewards stood him down for seven days for excessive use of the whip.

The same old problem persists, of course, but has been pushed back under the carpet again.

ABOVE THE BEST

The Group 3 Betfred TV Chipchase Stakes over six furlongs saw a spirited late plunge on Richard Hannon’s 4/1 favourite Yafta and it looked like coming off.

However, arriving from some way off the pace, the seven-year-old Above The Rest, 12/1, led inside the final furlong and drew away to beat him by a length and a half.

Ridden by Ben Curtis for trainer David Barron, the winner was hard to find, having competed in handicaps over seven furlongs – he won the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket last year – before this drop in trip on a surface not necessarily in his favour.

However, this is a fairly stiff six and he won convincingly. Whether he will have a chance at the weights in one of the major sprint handicaps on turf remains to be seen.