The ITV Racing cameras will show races from Newmarket’s Betfred Guineas Festival on Friday 2 May. The course’s top trainer over the past three years Charlie Appleby has a couple of leading chances. Meanwhile at Punchestown, Constitution Hill clashes with State Man in the Boodles Champion Hurdle
The Betfred Guineas meeting begins at Newmarket on Friday as Punchestown’s festival reaches day four.
Here Mirror Racing picks out four horses to keep an eye on….
Fifty Nifty – 3.30 Newmarket
Tom Clover’s trainee has had just five races in his short career. He made a perfect start in a Yarmouth maiden event last April and built on further experience to land a Class Two handicap on Newmarket’s July Course. Rounding the season off, the talented thoroughbred made good headway over a furlong out and led in the closing stages. Then given a traditional winter break when jump racing took over, Fifty Nifty returned a couple of weeks ago with a close course and distance second. A bit short of room at an important stage, he ran on to press all-the-way winner Ten Pounds. It went down as another improved effort from Fifty Nifty and he is fancied to confirm the form with a couple of these.
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Silver Knott – 4.05 Newmarket
Globetrotting stayer Silver Knott looks to be one of several excellent rides for William Buick, who has a 30 per cent track strike rate in the past three years and a very similar one with the Group Two Betfred Jockey Club Stakes approaching. And it looks an ideal target for Charlie Appleby’s five-year-old, who back in 2022 landed the Autumn Stakes on the Rowley Mile so there are no concerns on that front. Mostly campaigned in America, Silver Knott showed his versatility when controlling the Dubai City Of Gold event at Meydan in March and he took his first two starts after a break last year.
Theatre Native – 5.25 Punchestown
The Rachael Blackmore-ridden mare showed just how good she can be when taking a premier handicap for novice mares at Cheltenham’s April Meeting. Sent on from the seventh fence, Theatre Native travelled well and gave her supporters a smooth ride by keeping it simple from the front, putting in accurate leaps. Her next target is tougher with 20 runners declared, including shortlisted Henry de Bromhead-trained stablemates Nara and Native Speaker. But at this stage of the season it is worth sticking with a mare at the top of her game and her previous form was franked, suggesting she might rate higher still.
State Man – 6.40 Punchestown
The Willie Mullins-saddled star played his part in a dramatic Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March. Constitution Hill exited early, leaving an open goal for Brighterdaysahead, but Gordon Elliott’s mare underperformed on the afternoon. The setbacks should not take anything away from the performance of State Man however, in command when he came down with the race at his mercy. Cheekpieces gave the multiple Grade One scorer extra impetus and a Boodles Champion Hurdle hat-trick on home soil awaits.
