Newmarket top racing tip: Gulmarg primed to turn tables on favourite Acotango
- Steve Jones
- 20 May 2023
With fifty races on Saturday’s busy card, Tipstrr racing pundit Steve Jones has narrowed the hundreds of runners down to his best bet of the day at Newmarket.
14:05 Newmarket: Aspall Cyder 1728 Handicap (1 mile)
Gulmarg comes here race-fit and in good form, and he also boasts some very useful course-and-distance form which the favourite, Acotango, doesn't have.
This won't be the first time that Gulmarg has clashed with Acotango, the pair having met in a handicap over this distance on the Kempton Polytrack last September, when Acotango got home narrowly in front, beating Gulmarg by just a neck with the pair well clear of five others.
Gulmarg conceded three pounds to Acotango that day, so he is attractively treated for this re-match, especially with Harry Davies' useful claim which means Gulmarg is now effectively eight pounds better off with Acotango for just a neck defeat, albeit on Polytrack.
Since then, Gulmarg has proven his effectiveness over today's trip, finishing third of 15 under Davies in a highly competitive handicap here last month.
Suggested bet: Gulmarg to win the 14:05 at Newmarket
Gulmarg missed second place by a neck but he did pull more than two lengths clear of the other 12 runners, so he must have a good chance off an unchanged mark in today's event, especially as he will enjoy this better ground more than the good-soft he had on that last occasion.
His previous wins have both come on straight, galloping tracks with good and good-firm ground, and he has previously been taken out of an intended assignment due to soft ground being deemed unsuitable, so his effort here last time can be marked up further in that regard.
Next best bet:
Acotango to win the 14:05 at Newmarket
Of the others,
Acotango has plenty in his favour given that he is race-fit after finishing a close-up second of nine in a higher-graded one-mile handicap on season debut at Haydock under today's rider, Richard Kingscote.
Acotango was clearly unfortunate to bump into that highly progressive winner, Racingbreaks Ryder, but his form in beating the rest of that field was advertised when third-placed Royal Rhyme went on to win a Class 3 handicap here earlier this month.
Now down in grade off just three pounds higher, Acotango has to be on the shortlist, even though his yard is still struggling for winners (currently enduring a 44-runner losing sequence going back 119 days).
