Newbury’s Flat season draws to a close this Saturday, October 28, with Worthington’s Armed Forces Raceday.
The highlights of the thrilling seven-race programme are the £60,000 G3 Worthington’s ‘Indigo Leisure’ Stakes (2.15pm, 15 entries) over a mile and a half for three-year-olds and upwards, and the £40,000 G3 Bathwick Tyres Stakes (2.50pm, 13 entries) over seven furlongs for two-year-olds.
Among the entries for the G3 ‘Indigo Leisure’ Stakes is Danehill Kodiac (Richard Hannon), successful last time out in the G3 Cumberland Lodge at Ascot on October 7. There are a trio of Godolphin-owned contenders – G1 Coronation Cup runner-up Frontiersman (Charlie Appleby), Best Of Days (Hugo Palmer), second to Frontiersman in the Listed Godolphin Stakes at Newmarket last month, and Best Solution (Saeed bin Suroor), who has twice finished runner-up in G1 company.
An interesting contender is Mountain Bell (Ralph Beckett), who has not been seen out since finishing second in this race a year ago, when she went down by half a length to Duretto.
The four-year-old Mount Nelson filly, owned by Qatar Racing Limited, had shown a good level form earlier in 2016 when landing a Listed contest over an extended mile and a half at Chester and finishing third behind subsequent G1 Irish and Yorkshire Oaks heroine Seventh Heaven in the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial.
Beckett, who is based at Kimpton Down in Hampshire, said today: “Mountain Bell is a probable starter at Newbury on Saturday.
“She had a problem earlier in the season, which is why she has not been seen out before now, but I am happy with the way she is now.
“There was a lot to like about her performances last year and she showed she was very tough.”
Other entries of note include G3 Bahrain Trophy scorer Raheen House (Brian Meehan), last season’s G1 Epsom Oaks runner-up Architecture (Hugo Palmer) and Western Hymn (John Gosden).
The 13 entries for the G3 Bathwick Tyres Stakes include impressive debut winners Imperial Past (Charlie Appleby) and Mutaaqeb (Owen Burrows), while the standard is set by Nebo (Charlie Hills), who has been placed four times in G2 company, including when a close third in the six-furlong G2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury on September 23.
Also taking place on Worthington’s Armed Forces Raceday is the £30,000 Listed Radley Stakes (3.55pm, 22 entries), staged over seven furlongs and confined to two-year-old fillies.
For a 10th consecutive year, Newbury Racecourse will welcome members of the Armed Forces and Royal British Legion on Saturday, October 28 for its final Flat racing of the season, Worthington’s Armed Forces Raceday, which also plays host to the launch of the 2017 Poppy Appeal for Berkshire and Vale of White Horse.
Current serving members of the Armed Forces and Ministry of Defence civil servants, along with Royal British Legion members, have until 12noon tomorrow, Tuesday, October 24, to benefit from free Premier Enclosure tickets if they are reserved in advance (two allocated per military ID number, MOD civil service ID or RBL member number). Simply call 01635 40015.
In addition to the seven-race card, a whole variety of military-themed entertainment will be on offer for racegoers to enjoy, along with the ceremonial Poppy presentation which takes place before racing and this year will be conducted by the Royal British Legion’s Parachute Display Team.
As is the custom, the presentation will be accompanied by a military band. This year the Waterloo Band and Bugles of the Rifles will be playing during the afternoon, before leading a sing-along after the final race outside the Weighing Room.
Newbury also races on Friday, October 27, which offers seven more races, running from 1.40pm to 5.10pm.
The going at Newbury is currently Soft, Good to Soft in places.
Jump racing returns to Newbury on Thursday, November 9, with the highlight of Newbury’s Jump season, the Ladbrokes Winter Carnival, following on Friday and Saturday, December 1 and 2.
