Fran Berry column ahead of Emirates Cesarewitch at Newmarket
Fran Berry previews the key action from Britain and Ireland this weekend and fancied Tony Martin to train the winner of the Cesarewitch.
Let's start at Newmarket and Pinatubo who is the standout star in the Dewhurst.
He's the two-year-old of the year and what he did in the National Stakes was particularly special. Not just the way he did it but the horses he beat in Royal Ascot winner Arizona and the Group Two winner Armoury.
It's very hard to pick holes in his form and he's done it on tracks like Goodwood and Epsom, and also in tough conditions last time.
I suppose Newmarket poses a new challenge and we know that Wichita handles it well so he looks the main danger as he also has plenty of room for further improvement. If you can get the O'Brien horse 'without the favourite' then I think that would be a decent approach to take.
Positive has done nothing wrong either and is an interesting horse for the future while Monarch Of Egypt isn't one to completely give up on after the one bad run, though he might be one to be interested in for the Breeders' Cup given his connections.
Earlier on the same card Mythical steps up in trip for the Zetland Stakes and he's going to relish the extra yardage. He was visually very impressive at Gowran Park and I'm quite keen on him following up.
Tritonic could be a danger and will no doubt be a better price. He was quite taking at Newbury I thought and is bred to improve for this distance as well. He presumably won't mind if the ground gets event more testing.
Molatham looks like being favourite for the Autumn Stakes and he's really progressive. Al Suhail is held in high regard and Persia could obviously have run in the Zetland so it's interesting to see him come here, but both will have to step up a bit to get the better of Molatham, whose form with Wichita and Mums Tipple has worked out so well.
Onto the Emirates Cesarewitch and clearly a very competitive handicap. Buildmeupbuttercup will be all the rage with Frankie up but there's no value around the 5/1 mark.
I'd prefer to have a few each-way bets and the three I've whittled it down to would be Mr Everest, Rainbow Dreamer and Party Playboy. The latter is still a maiden on the level but probably did too much too soon when fifth to Timoshenko at Goodwood but the form ties in well and he should outrun his odds of around 50/1.
Rainbow Dreamer has bits and pieces of form in both codes which make him of interest and Mr Everest is a big horse who still looks to be maturing for Tony Martin.
I'd also give a small mention to David Menuisier's Nuit St Georges who is on the up but might just have too much to find.
At Limerick on Saturday I'll be keeping an eye on Metier in the Listed Martin Molony Stakes. He's a horse I've been quite taken with in his last couple of starts and connections are clearly happy to blow his handicap mark (93) to have a go at this decent prize. I think he can have a say on ground he's going to appreciate.
Auxilia is a horse to watch in the Staffordstown Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday, she was deadly when she won at Naas, although the form hasn't worked out too well yet.
The ground is going to be very testing here too and the Waterford Testimonial Stakes is open. Slight preference is for Downforce for Willie McCreery who goes well at this time of the year and got back to form when second last time out.
In the Tote Irish Cesarewitch Davids Charm is very much the form horse. He's still got plenty of upside on the Flat and looks solid enough.
The two I like at the prices, though, are Rock De Baune and Royal Aide. Joseph O'Brien's three-year-old could be really well handicapped and I think he'll definitely benefit from the move up to two miles after what he did at Bellewstown.
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