Sunday ITV Racing Tips: Best bets for Newmarket, Hamilton and Salisbury

Selections:

Soapy Stevens (13.50 Newmarket)

Crenelle (14.25 Newmarket)

Mitbaahy (14.35 Hamilton)

Spirit Mixer (14.40 Salisbury)

Ebaiyra (15.00 Newmarket)

Malavath (15.40 Newmarket)

13.50 Newmarket - Soapy Stevens

This sees the return of Melrose winner Valley Forge, who is now gelded and is open to further improvement at four, with all roads for him leading to the Ebor in August.

He's a worthy favourite but faces several race-fit rivals this afternoon, including three horses who ran in the Musselburgh Heritage Handicap won by Enemy, who did the form no harm when finishing an unlucky third in the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes.

Dark Jedi finished runner-up in that contest, two places ahead of Sir Rumi, with Charlie and Mark Johnston's Soapy Stevens in fifth, and the latter horse is fancied to come out on top here.

His was a far better effort than the bare form would suggest as he raced close to the pace and took a while to settle in a race that suited the hold-up horses - the first three all came from behind - with the run also likely to have been needed.

He has been dropped 1lb since, which leaves him just 5lb higher than when winning over this trip at Haydock last June, and today's quicker surface is more in his favour too.

14.25 Newmarket - Crenelle

She had just a neck to spare over the runner-up Fonteyn at the line, with the pair well clear, but she didn't really get going until late on under Frankie Dettori (in the Juddmonte colours and back on board) and today's extra two furlongs should be more up her street.

Charlie Appleby's With The Moonlight, a dual winner on the all-weather as a juvenile and clearly held in some regard judging by her Oaks entry, is feared most.

14.35 Hamilton - Mitbaahy

He's dropping back to 5f for the first time, though, with his only victory coming over a stiff 6f at Pontefract, and this half-brother to a 7f winner could prove vulnerable on his first run back for a stable struggling for winners (1-26 in the last 14 days).

14.40 Salisbury - Spirit Mixer

With Zoffee being declared to run on Saturday and a likeky absentee, we're left with just three runners for this 1m6f handicap and it looks between a couple of course winners in Oman, who won a maiden at this meeting last year and has not run since October, and Andrew Balding's Spirit Mixer.

Crucially, perhaps, the latter horse has the benefit of a run this term, that coming at a meeting here 11 days ago when fourth over an inadequate 1m4f, and he'll surely come on for that.

The slow gallop on that occasion was against him too as he needs more of a stamina test, as he showed when winning here last August and then running the smart Bandinelli close in another 1m6f handicap at Haydock.

15.00 Newmarket - Ebaiyra

15.40 Newmarket (1,000 Guineas) - Malavath

Any discussion of the first fillies' Classic has to begin with Aidan O'Brien given he's won five of the last six runnings and seven times overall, and he's got two shots at glory this time around with the unbeaten Tenebrism joined by Naas maiden winnner Tuesday.

The former filly leapt to the head of the market following the defection of winter favourite Inspiral, but she's by no means certain to get a mile on breeding, being out of sprinter Caravaggio, and has to be taken on at her current odds for what looks an open renewal.

While she may well end up going back down in trip, her stablemate is more likely to be seen to best effect over middle distances - she heads the market for the Oaks currently - and might prove vulnerable here to a filly with a superior turn of foot.

However, at similar odds we just prefer the claims of Francis Graffard's Malavath, who showed she had trained on when comfortably beating the re-opposing Zellie over 7f at Deauville 24 days ago, when quickening nicely and looking strong at the finish under today's pilot Christophe Soumillon.