Newbury Saturday

1.25 Sky Sports Racing Aston Park Stakes (Group 3) 1m 4f

Kalpana is the form choice here, but it is worth noting that her last 12 runs have come on right-handed tracks and her only win going left-handed was a scrambled win in a Wolverhampton novice on her racecourse debut.

It’s possible that being kept to clockwise courses since then has been purely coincidental, but this race won’t be high on her list of priorities for the season and she doesn’t face a simple task in conceding a Group 1 penalty to some smart rivals.

Arabian Force doesn’t quite measure up to the favourite on overall form, but he is fit after a promising effort in listed company at Longchamp five weeks ago, and is likely to be close to his peak, unlike her. Beaten just a length in the Great Voltigeur last season, he appeals as the sort William Haggas will improve again this season and he is weighted to go well here.

2.00 Childwickbury Stud Fillies’ Trial Stakes (Listed) 1m 2f

Golden Orbit and Sacred Ground are the pair who dominate the market here and it’s hard to argue with their position, for all the latter has achieved more on paper. Golden Orbit has raced just once, winning a Newmarket maiden in September that has thrown up a couple of subsequent winners.

The form needs to improve, but the daughter of Sea The Stars comes from a smart family and looks sure to do better tackling trips in excess of a mile this term. She is afforded plenty of respect on her return, but marginal preference is for Sacred Ground, who built on her own debut win by twice finishing second in listed company, matching the form of her effort in the Montrose Fillies’ Stakes at Newmarket in the autumn when chasing home Jennifer Jane in the Pretty Polly there a fortnight ago.

Beaten six lengths in the Pretty Polly, Sacred Ground made her ground up from the rear in a race not run to suit such tactics and she is certainly worth marking up for the effort, and looks certain to progress again.

2.35 Boyle Sports Lockinge Stakes (Group 1) 1m

Sahlan was much improved in the second half of last season, winning the Prix Daphnis at Deauville and the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at Longchamp, when he had Rosallion, The Lion In Winter just behind and Dancing Gemini well held. Newbury’s straight mile will suit and he remains under the radar to British fans, given this will be his first run on domestic soil.

Francis-Henri Graffard has an impressive record in Group 1 events in recent years and is sure to have the son of Wootton Bassett at concert pitch for the Lockinge. Damysus is favourite at the time of writing, but despite winning a pair of Group 3 contests at Newmarket, he has a bit to ask at Group 1 level, especially at a mile, having shown his best form at slightly further.

Zeus Olympios also lacks form at this level, but appeals as a more potent threat, having shaped well when beaten by Opera Ballo in the Bet365 Mile at Sandown last month. Notable Speech won the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar and holds the selection on that effort, but was below form in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland on his return and represents the Charlie Appleby yard, which is going through a rare but prolonged barren spell at present.

3.10 Highclere Castle Gin Carnarvon Stakes (Listed) 6f

Albert Einstein has been unimpressive in two starts this season, hooded and ridden with a view to conserving his stamina over seven furlongs, but he looked a sprinter in the making last term and is likely to show much better form ridden aggressively down in trip, which looks the plan now the hood has been discarded.

Backing Albert Einstein involves trusting the gut feeling of Aidan O’Brien, who memorably said of him after his defeat in the Gladness Stakes: “Some horses find it very hard to go quick, but he finds it very hard to go slow. Usually that kind of horse needs a very strong tempo early. The lads will decide, but my initial thought is that he’ll be coming back and he’ll go sprinting.”

O’Brien and/or ‘the lads’ decided to give him another chance to prove his Guineas credentials in the Greenham, and while he didn’t look fast there, the fact that the aim was to get him to go slower early in the race seems to have backfired and there is no need to be so circumspect now.

3.45 Trade Nation London Gold Cup Handicap 1m 2f

Sahara King has been beaten on both starts this season, but has shaped extremely well in defeat and looks the way to go in the London Gold Cup. The selection was a winner on debut at Wolverhampton in November and was beaten just a length behind subsequent Lingfield Derby Trial winner at Newbury (mile and a quarter, good) on his return.

He improved again when chasing home the exciting Evanesco at the Guineas Meeting at Newmarket last time, staying on strongly having been set plenty to do. Sahara King has seen his Newbury form franked by several of his rivals and given the impression that a sustained gallop at this trip will suit better than the tactical contest he ran in last time.

A 1lb rise for that run is very fair and he’s still unexposed as a handicapper at around a mile and a half, so should continue to progress as he’s bred to do.

Newmarket Saturday

1.42 Daily Profit Boosts At BetMGM Handicap 1m

Twisting Physics and Jimmy Speaking look opposable at the head of the market here, with the former hailing from a yard without a 2026 winner and the latter looking very awkward, despite winning at Southwell last time.

Gorgeous Mr George appeals as being seriously overpriced and should have derived plenty of benefit from his recent return at Yarmouth, where he looked rusty but wasn’t beaten far at the line. A winner three times at seven furlongs/ a mile on good ground last summer, he showed better form in defeat later in the season, the best of three runner-up efforts coming from a mark of 78 at Yarmouth in early October.

He’s had excuses for both starts since and should be ready to strike soon, having fallen to a mark of 76 and with the talented Ashley Lewis taking another 5lb off his back. A draw in stall 2 looks a positive based on historic results and he would be a fraction of his overnight odds if I was pricing the race up.

2.50 Read Meg Nicholls’ Blog At BetMGM.co.uk Handicap 7f

Michael Wigham is a trainer whose handicappers are always worth following on turf, despite having an ordinary strike-rate all told. In the last five full seasons, he has sent out 28 winners of 108 turf handicaps, and backers of all those qualifiers would be ahead to the tune of £1,077.80 to a tenner stake at SP and a fair bit more at Betfair SP.

This approach would have provided a healthy profit for each of the last few seasons and is already in profit in 2026. Wigham has an interesting runner here in the shape of Dark Tornado, a course-and-distance winner last season from 4lb lower for Denis Quinn before being tried in the Group 2 Summer Mile at Ascot. Dark Tornado makes his debut for Wigham here and I believe that a repeat of his latest win could be enough to secure another success.

He wore a tongue tie when down the field on his last two starts for Denis Quinn, but has since had wind surgery. Wigham’s only stable switcher to run this season was a winner at 22/1 (his overall record is also positive), while one of only two horses to represent him since 2024 having had a breathing operation was a 25/1 winner. The other, for what it’s worth, was unplaced at 125/1.

Recommended

Arabian Force 1.25 Newbury - 1pt win @ 5/1 (Ladbrokes, BetVictor; 9/2 general)

Sahlan 2.35 Newbury - 1pt win @ 10/1 (general)

Albert Einstein 3.10 Newbury - 1pt win @ 11/4 (Bet365, Hills; 5/2 general)

Sahara King 3.45 Newbury - 1pt win @ 11/2 (Hills; 5/1 Bet365)

Gorgeous Mr George 1.42 Newmarket - 1pt e/w @ 18/1 (Hills; 16/1 general - 4 places)

Dark Tornado 2.50 Newmarket - 1pt e/w @ 33/1 (Hills; 25/1 general - 4 places)