Friday's ITV Racing Tips: Ben Linfoot's preview and selections for Newmarket Cambridgeshire meeting day two

Horse Racing

Thu September 24, 2026 · 11h ago

Our form expert has three selections for Friday's ITV Racing action from Newmarket and Worcester.

The Verdict: Friday September 25

1pt win Country Park in the 14:05 Worcester at 9/1 (General)

1pt win Miss Miniver in the 14:25 Newmarket at 7/1 (General)

1pt win The Lost King in the 15:00 Newmarket at 15/2 (William Hill, 7/1 General)

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No New York state of mind in the Joel

The ITV cameras are back at Newmarket for day two of the Cambridgeshire meeting and a lot of the preamble will be focused around Talk Of New York ahead of the feature Group 2 Betway Joel Stakes over a mile.

Rated 116, he’s the best horse running on the card and will be priced up accordingly, and with last year’s winner Zeus Olympios skipping the race this year it does look a good opportunity for him to get his third win of the season on the board.

There is a problem, though, and that is his tendency to pull hard, on display his last two starts, that characteristic arguably the main reason he was beaten at odds of 2/5 at Goodwood in the Thoroughbred Stakes last time.

He is obviously very talented, and it would be no surprise to anyone if he ends up being more professional at his local track on Friday, but this isn’t a course where you can get away with racing inefficiently and given he’s 4/6, and taking on a bunch of professional older horses for the first time, I’ll take him on.

If Talk Of New York doesn’t get the job done, the key race will likely be the Group 3 Superior Mile Stakes at Haydock run on September 5 with the first (Persica), second (THE LOST KING), fourth (Hankelow) and fifth (Colori Forever) all reopposing here.

That race suited the strong-staying Persica given the heavy ground and the headwind but he might not get away with a mile on much better ground at Newmarket and I’d fancy Andrew Balding’s The Lost King to reverse that form.

He acquitted himself very well first time on the conditions and he finished his race strongly for second, but he’s well proven on much better ground and he’s consistently improving now Balding is sticking to a mile with him.

After being tried over a bit shorter and a bit further he’s found his trip and he is fit and firing now after a busy year in which he has run nine times.

Thriving with racing, his three career-best runs have come on his last three starts, and he ran very well at this track earlier in the year when too keen over nine furlongs in the Suffolk Stakes.

His more recent efforts have been much more efficient and with Oisin Murphy back in the saddle he could well take another step forward, a scenario that makes him a live threat to the odds-on favourite.

The Verdict: Back THE LOST KING in the 15:00 Newmarket

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Don’t Miss Miniver in the Rockfel

Earlier on at Newmarket the complexion of the Group 2 Betway Rockfel Stakes has changed somewhat with Joseph O’Brien opting to go for the Cheveley Park instead with Alwaysanangel.

That has left Spirited Gesture as the clear favourite and while she looks an exciting prospect for Juddmonte and the Gosdens, I’d put Roger Varian’s MISS MINIVER in the same bracket and she looks a value alternative.

Beaten a neck on debut by subsequent Group 3 Prestige Stakes third, Coaxed, that form ties in with the second favourite for the Rockfel, Light Of Dawn, who won at Goodwood, and Miss Miniver might not have an awful lot to find.

She improved from her Kempton debut, a race that worked out well, to win nicely at Salisbury last time, travelling smoothly up front and responding well for pressure to seal the race under Kieran Shoemark who was very complimentary afterwards.

An 800,000 guineas yearling, by Wootton Bassett and closely related to Facteur Cheval, Miss Miniver is bred to be good and I think she’ll enjoy faster ground than she encountered at Salisbury judging by the way she moves.

The Varian yard remains in good form and he knows exactly what it takes to win the Rockfel, while Godolphin number one William Buick (26% strike-rate for Varian) takes over in the saddle.

The Verdict: Back MISS MINIVER in the 14:25 Newmarket

This Country in Summer Chase final

Finally, COUNTRY PARK is worth a bet in the CopyBet Arc Summer Chase Series Final Handicap Chase over 2m4f at Worcester (also on ITV).

Jonjo & AJ O’Neill’s horse has had four runs over fences between May and September, all over this trip of 2m4f, and he has acquitted himself well in the main, winning at Bangor in June and running well either side of that effort.

He has shaped like he wants more of a test, though, so this bigger field and likely stronger-run race can squeeze more out of him after he has been learning his trade in smaller-field events.

Last time he ran below-par back at Bangor, but he wasn’t beaten far considering Jonjo O’Neill Jr let him cruise home once his chance had gone and the headgear switch from cheekpieces to blinkers looks a pointer.

O’Neill has a very good record when applying the first-time blinkers in handicaps, resulting in a level stakes profit of +£28.33 to £1 stakes at SP the last 15 years, and this horse looks like he might just sharpen up considerably with these different factors in play.