CANDLEFORD should be backed to follow up his runaway Royal Ascot victory by beating 15 opponents for the bet365 Trophy (3.00) at Newmarket.
The William Haggas-saddled four-year-old has been hit with a 13lb rise for his six-length margin in the Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap, a race that marked his return to the fray for 2022. But the hike was well earned – Candleford turned one of the most competitive races of the summer into a procession – and Tom Marquand’s mount is taken to win again en route to tackling Group company.
Only the needy or greedy will seek to play, but INSPIRAL and Frankie Dettori have the Group 1 Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at their mercy.
John Gosden’s unbeaten champion two-year-old filly was also making her comeback when smashing up Ascot’s top-level Coronation Stakes by four and three-quarter lengths – and she merits her building-society odds here. She found only Dramatised too good in the Queen Mary Stakes on the Royal heath, so MAYLANDSEA rates the clubhouse leader in the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (2.25).
The bet365 Handicap (1.50) is wide open, but PHANTOM FLIGHT is on an upward curve and should appreciate a first crack at a mile and a quarter. At York, GALE FORCE MAYA can run like the wind in the Group 3 William Hill Summer Stakes (2.40), while FORZA ORTA is the selection for the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap (2.05).
FRIDAY'S SELECTIONS
NEWMARKET
1.15 HOPE YOU CAN RUN
1.50 PHANTOM FLIGHT
2.25 MAYLANDSEA
3.00 CANDLEFORD
3.35 INSPIRAL
4.10 LORD RAPSCALLION
4.45 ANCIENT TIMES
YORK
2.05 FORZA ORTA
2.40 GALE FORCE MAYA
3.15 YAHSAT
3.50 ANIMATO
4.25 NORTHERN EXPRESS
5.00 KING OF TONGA
5.30 PIASTRELLA
ASCOT
2.15 FAR SHOT
2.50 SOULCOMBE
3.25 ATRIUM
4.00 HELLO JUMEIRAH
4.36 FIRST RULER
5.11 TANMAWWY (NB)
5.45 HATHLOOL
CHESTER
6.00 FIELDSMAN
6.30 SHINE’S AMBITION
7.00 GROUP ONE POWER
7.30 DOUBLE O
8.00 YANIFER
8.30 LATE ARRIVAL
9.00 ROZALIA (NAP)
CHEPSTOW
6.15 DUNDORY
6.45 ASTROPHYSICS
7.15 SILENT FLAME
7.45 AUNT BETHANY
8.15 TWILIGHT TONE
8.45 SOLDIER’S SON
DOUBLE: ROZALIA and TANMAWWY
