Tony McFadden provides an overview of the key things to note on Saturday.
Beautify the one to beat in Cheveley Park
Royal Fixation heads the market for the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket following her smooth success in the Lowther last month, but, according to Timeform's figures, Beautify's runner-up effort in the Moyglare is the stronger piece of form. She heads Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings by 2 lb from stablemate True Love, who in turn is 3 lb in advance of Royal Fixation.
The only juvenile fillies this season rated higher than Beautify are Moyglare winner Precise and the third home Venetian Sun, who is better judged on the form she showed when a narrow winner of the Group 1 Prix Morny against the colts.
Beautify split that smart pair in the Moyglare and there was a lot to like about how she went through the race, travelling sweetly with little cover from the headwind and sticking to her task when headed by Precise. That performance earned Beautify Timeform's Horse In Focus Flag, while the way she travelled suggests she should cope well with the drop back to six furlongs. She was an impressive winner of the Airlie Stud Stakes over six furlongs on her previous start, after all.
Queen Tamara a strong contender for red-hot Charlton yard
September has been a productive month for Harry Charlton who has had seven winners from 28 runners at a strike rate of 25%, while a further five have finished runner-up to underline the yard's good form. His percentage of rivals beaten figure for the month, standing at 69.4%, is the highest of any trainer who has had at least 20 runners on the Flat in September.
Charlton, whose good form is highlighted by Timeform's Hot Trainer Flag, has a strong contender on Saturday in Queen Tamara, who looks to have been let in lightly on her handicap debut in the seven-furlong fillies' nursery (16:15) at Newmarket.
Queen Tamara has shown run-by-run improvement and got off the mark at the third attempt at Chepstow last month. She still looked a bit green when first coming under pressure but was well on top at the line, scoring by a length and a quarter with something in hand.
A good time adds substance to that performance and an opening BHA handicap mark of 79 appears to underestimate her. She comes out 3 lb clear at the head of Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings and still has the Timeform 'small p' after only three starts.
Merrijig looking to follow up last year's win
There are a trio of horses at Ripon on Saturday - Eye of Dubai (15:25), Eldeyaar (16:00) and Merrijig (17:15) - all bidding to repeat last year's victories on the corresponding card.
Merrijig, in particular, looks interesting given he has such a commanding advantage on Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings for the concluding two-mile handicap, sitting 4 lb clear of his nearest rival.
Merrijig was an impressive winner 12 months ago, passing the post ten lengths clear to register his third handicap win of the campaign. He hasn't won since, but he returns here off a 4 lb lower mark so is clearly well treated on last year's form.
Encouragement can also be taken from Merrijig's latest effort at Chester where, wearing blinkers for the first time, he made a promising move into contention out wide before ultimately finishing fourth. That offers a platform to build on back at Ripon, where he has Timeform's Horses For Courses Flag to highlight his effectiveness on the undulating course.
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