Our horse racing tipster Paul O’Brien gives his selections from Newbury’s Lockinge Day, including a double for Kieran Shoemark.
King’s Gambit (3pm)
King’s Gambit, out of Saxon Warrior, has only ever raced at Newbury. The three-year-old colt was a complete non-feature in his debut outing last July, coming joint-last but looked a completely different animal on his second attempt in August when winning impressively ahead of City Burglar and subsequent listed winner Boiling Point.
He continued to improve for his next outing the following month when unlucky not to win again under penalty, narrowing losing out to subsequent valuable conditions stakes winner Bracken’s Laugh. Connections are confident he has trained on well and have high hopes for him going into this season, suggesting he should be more than good enough to win this on reappearance.
Inspiral (3.35pm)
This year’s Lockinge is a race to get excited about, the rematch between Big Rock and Inspiral. Sandown mile first and second, Charyn and Poker Face will look to spoil the party but will likely find the two at the top of the market too good for them.
It really is an intriguing contest with Big Rock, whose best form is in soft ground now, turning four and Inspiral, whose best form is on firm ground, meeting on a track where conditions are expected to be somewhere in between. Preference is given to Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare winner Inspiral, who begun her Group 1 hat-trick at the end of last year by beating Big Rock at Deauville on soft.
Siyola (5.15pm)
This race can give a fairly good insight into who will win Group 1 races later in the year, with Warm Heart beating Bluestocking in last year’s renewal. There are only six runners declared for this year’s renewal but it is still a strong race with multiple horses you could make a case for, but the one who stands out the most is Siyola.
The three-year-old filly out of Siyouni, who has sired more than forty horses with a rating over 100, won impressively on debut at Sandown three weeks ago. Held up at the rear before being told to go forward inside the final two furlongs and winning up the Sandown hill. She beat a subsequent Group 3 winner that day and a repeat of that performance should see her win here.
