Northumberland Plate preview and long-range tips

The Ascot Stakes, Copper Horse Stakes, Queen’s Vase, Gold Cup and Queen Alexandra all served up belting finishes last week and hopefully Saturday’s Jenningsbet Northumberland Plate can deliver something similar, albeit in a rather contrasting setting.

Ten years ago this famous handicap was switched from the turf to the Tapeta and three favourites have won in that time. This year’s early market leaders are Valiancy and Circus Of Rome, both on offer around the 6/1 mark.

Valiancy, trained by William Haggas for owners Wathnan Racing, looks a bit slow on the up-take and is screaming for a first crack at two miles but whether he’ll be turned out for this just 11 days on from his Copper Horse sixth behind Daiquiri Bay is another matter given he brings zero all-weather experience to the table.

The last horse to win at Newcastle having lined up at the Royal meeting was the Richard Hughes-trained Calling The Wind, who had filled the runner-up spot in the 2023 Ascot Stakes.

Circus Of Rome, a 12-furlong winner at Newcastle in August and 2-2 on Tapeta overall having also won his novice at Wolverhampton, represents the Hughes yard this time but arrives with an altogether different preparation having been unplaced at 40/1 in a one-mile handicap at Sandown a couple of weeks ago.

He had ended last term with some promising efforts over a mile and three-quarters, including a staying-on fourth behind Valiancy at Haydock, and this season’s efforts certainly look like they’ve been geared towards getting his sharpened up for something major.

Owner Alex Smith has landed a couple of tidy gambles with the few horses he’s had with Hughes over the years and this four-year-old gelding should be high on anyone’s shortlist, despite already being quite well found in the market.

The Plate remains on Sir Mark Prescott’s bucket list – likewise the Chester Cup and the Cesarewitch, remarkably – but he’s won his fair share of valuable staying handicaps elsewhere during his distinguished career and Synergism looks likely to fly the flag in the north east this weekend.

Another four-year-old with untapped potential over staying trips, Synergism started out being rated 57 but was defying a BHA mark of 87 when making a successful start to his campaign at Lingfield late last month (replay below).

Forced to carry a 5lb penalty for that quite hard-fought success, he’s technically 3lb ‘wrong’ at the weights as he was only raised 2lb to a mark of 89 for future (non-early-closing) engagements, but there was plenty to like about that effort which should be marked up given the small-field scenario and lack of a recent outing wouldn’t have been in his favour.

The son of Soldier Hollow has good course form too having been a half-length second over this track and trip at one of the Racing League meetings last summer, the winner on that occasion (Sax Appeal) going on to add two more handicap victories to his tally later in 2025.

Shrimp Shady, raised 5lb for Chester, and the penalised Thirsk scorer Mountain Road, who looks capable of better still for Jim Goldie, are other last-time-out winners in the mix, while James Owen has a couple of interesting potential runners around the likely cut-off point.

Charging Thunder and Kirchner and both need half a dozen to come out but there’s a fair chance of that unfolding and while the former is around 100/1 despite being 3lb below the mark from which he was third in last year’s edition, it’s stablemate Kirchner who is by far the least exposed of the pair.

Bought by The Rogues Gallery syndicate for 72,000 euros out of the Jean-Claude Rouget yard earlier this year, the grey has run a couple of pleasing races over a mile and a half, on each occasion shaping like a stiffer test might suit.

That’s far from guaranteed – he’s by Pinatubo – but there is stamina on the dam’s side of his pedigree and his trainer remains something of a dab hand when it comes to his new recruits, even when picked up from some of the most well-regarded stables in Europe. Fresh off the back of winning the Royal Hunt Cup with Rogue Diplomat, this owner and trainer combination is worth keeping in mind this weekend providing things fall their way at the final declaration stage on Thursday morning.

Published at 16:00 BST on 22/06/26

Sporting Life Plus - click here to login

Did you know you're probably already a Sporting Life Plus member?

All you need is a Sky Bet, Paddy Power or Betfair account and, using the same login details, you can access:

• Timeform racecards featuring flags, comments, ratings and analysis
• Premium content including Value Bet and Kieran Shoemark
• Timeform TV Focus tips and big-meeting best bets
• Free video replays for every UK and Irish meeting
• Free horse, trainer and jockey tracking with My Stable
• Live on-site betting across web and mobile web platforms
• Enhanced football accumulators from This Week's Acca
• Early access to top sports previews including the Open and Wimbledon

Everything is underpinned by our brands' combined 200-plus years of expertise.

Everything is completely free. No catch, no payment if you reach a certain threshold, just free for everyone in the UK and Ireland.

If you're yet to sign up for Sporting Life Plus and don't have one of those accounts, you can do so HERE.

If you do have an account, login now for the complete Sporting Life experience.

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.