ITV Racing Tips: Willie Mullins can light up the Cesarewitch with Burning Victory
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We have entered the final few weeks of the Flat Turf season with the core of the jumps campaign not far around the corner.
Yet a glance at the field for the Cesarewitch might suggest otherwise as at the front of the Cesarewitch betting market are horses trained by Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson, with Ireland’s champion jumps trainer throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at winning the Newmarket marathon again.
He has declared six runners for the long-distance handicap he has won three years in a row.
The race climaxes ITV’s coverage from Newmarket and York where it will share top billing with Britain’s most significant race for two-year-olds, the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes.
There are two other Group prizes for juveniles, the Zetland and Autumn Stakes, which should provide some clues for next year’s Classics which comprise a seven-race programme.
Coverage begins at 13:30 on ITV and we have previewed the three most significant races of the day in our ITV Racing Tips.
Bay Bridge returns from a six-month absence with another opportunity to show he is very much a horse to follow. He has won both starts this year by an aggregate nine lengths and when we last saw him he ran out a clear cut winner of the London Gold Cup.
That was expected to be a stepping stone to Royal Ascot but he never appeared and now takes in another handicap with Group pretensions likely to be delayed until next year.
He was put up 15lb for his Newbury success but should be capable of taking another step forward in a race three-year-olds have historically dominated.
Could Native Trail emerge as the star two-year-old of 2021? The Godolphin colt certainly put his hand up by ending the unbeaten run of Ballydoyle hotpot Point Lonsdale in the National Stakes last time.
He won that clash by three and a half lengths and has a previous Dewhurst winner, Distant Music, in his pedigree. But he could have a bigger fight on his hands this time.
Aidan O’Brien, who has won five of the last eight editions, fields a dark horse in Glounthaune, unraced since April but one who should not be overlooked given the stable’s Cheveley Park victory with another flying under the radar, Tenebrism.
It is possible to compare Native Trail’s form with that of another Irish candidate Straight Answer. On a line through Ultramarine, who has run against both colts, Straight Answer is three quarters of a length better than Native Trail, and within his pedigree is the brilliant Zafonic. He is very highly regarded by trainer Ger Lyons and Straight Answer could be the answer.
Willie Mullins has won the last three runnings of this 2m2f marathon and with six runners in the field it is hard to look beyond his candidates.
M C Muldoon, beaten a short head in the Ascot Stakes and a winning novice hurdler since, is the apparent first string as Ryan Moore is in the saddle, but his others have solid claims too.
Last year’s winner Great White Shark is among his team but so too is Burning Victory, the 2020 Triumph Hurdle winner. The mare had over a year out after that and owes her Flat handicap mark to two victories recorded away from the limelight in France.
Under a 4lb penalty, and William Buick in the saddle, she could still be well handicapped. Best of the rest could be Calling The Wind, who won over 2m4f at Goodwood but didn’t get the best of rides last time.
ITV Racing Schedule, Saturday 9th October
13:45 Newmarket – Zetland Stakes (Group 3)
14:02 York – Rockingham Stakes
14:20 Newmarket – Autumn Stakes (Group 3)
14:37 York – 1m2f handicap
14:55 Newmarket – Dewhurst Stakes
15:15 York – Coral Sprint Trophy Handicap
15:55 Newmarket – Cesarewitch Handicap
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
