Our form expert has two selections for ITV4's Friday Night Live card from Newcastle.
The Verdict: Friday February 6
1pt win Air Force One in 19:00 Newcastle at 10/1 (General)
1pt win Mostar Dreams in 19:30 Newcastle at 6/1 (General)
May the Force be with you
Friday Night Live hits the ITV4 screens from Newcastle this week and there are a couple of bets that appeal amongst the seven races that are due to be broadcast.
The best race is the Class 3 0-95 SBK: No Casino Just Sports Handicap over five furlongs at 19:00, with in-form all-weather horses like Badri, Paddy’s Day and The Caltonian set to clash with fresher horses lured in by the £55,000 pot.
With 14 runners it looks like the pace will be strong and with that in mind Geoff Oldroyd’s AIR FORCE ONE makes plenty of appeal at the general 10/1 from stall 12.
The five-year-old emerged as a sprinter to follow last summer when he kept on running really well in competitive York handicaps, so much so he was sent off at 9/2 for the Portland at Doncaster on his final turf start in 2025.
Given a few months off after that, he ran at Southwell towards the end of November for his all-weather debut and he was only beaten just over three lengths in sixth after racing on the far side which didn’t look the place to be.
That’s certainly how it transpired in that race, but also most of the other winners on the card came up the stands’ side, too, and it was probably a very good surface debut in defeat.
Newcastle should suit him better and the stats are in his favour; Starspangledbanner progeny are 18 from 75 at 24% here since January 1 2025, while Oldroyd is five from 17 at 29.41% at this track in the same timeframe.
His best York form came over five-and-a-half furlongs on the Knavesmire, so this straight track off a strong pace should suit him ideally, and double-figure prices look worth taking after he came down a few pounds for the Southwell run.
The Verdict: Back AIR FORCE ONE in the 19.00 Newcastle
Dreams bet for Keatley
The other bet I like is MOSTAR DREAMS for Adrian Keatley in the Tipping Tom On SBK Bet Feed Handicap over a mile at 19:30.
She looks progressive on the all-weather having made her debut on an artificial surface at Chelmsford in November when third, while she impressed in victory on her Newcastle debut over Friday’s course and distance last time out.
That was also her first go at a mile and while you could argue her seven-furlong pace was an asset in a slowly-run race, she still did remarkably well to go from last to first in the last furlong and a half to get up off the sedate gallop.
This will probably be run at a stronger gallop, but there’s no evidence to suggest she won’t handle that and she did only go up 2lb for the victory.
With Saxon Warrior progeny going so well here of late (they are 12 from 44 at 27.27% here since the start of 2025) and considering Keatley has gone on a remarkable winning run with Aisling Oscar at this track (won seven races from seven here since November 27) there are reasons to believe Mostar Dreams can progress again.
The Verdict: Back MOSTAR DREAMS in the 19.30 Newcastle
Preview posted at 16:25 GMT on 05/02/26
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