Cambridgeshire Handicap 2024 Tips: 40/1 and 66/1 longshots for Saturday’s feature

Newmarket stages a couple of Group 1s on Saturday, but the big betting heat is the Cambridgeshire - a 35-runner handicap over 1m1f - at 15:40.

Here's a couple of Cambridgeshire Handicap 2024 tips who should relish forecast conditions.

Paddy The Squire e/w @ 40/1

I personally have no interest in backing anything sub-20/1 for a 35-runner handicap, especially in likely conditions - it's officially soft on the Rowley Mile and the rain doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon - so I've looked way down the market for my selections.

The first of those is PADDY THE SQUIRE for Scottish trainer Iain Jardine.

This beautifully-bred four-year-old - a son of Golden Horn out of a Galileo mare who produced the useful New Kingdom and Cruyff Turn - fetched 150k guineas as a yearling in 2021, but connections will have been scratching their heads after his first couple of starts in the opening few months of last year.

However, following a wind op in April he went on to record form figures of 2212, reaching a mark of 85.

That was raised a further two pounds after his reappearance this term, when he was runner-up again in a decent handicap at Hamilton, and he went close off that revised rating at Chester just the other week.

Paddy The Squire is still very lightly-raced and therefore open to more improvement, and crucially he's adept on deep ground and has a favourable draw in stall 21 (eight of the last 10 winners have come from 21+).

He's well worth an each-way play in this Super Extra Place Race, with six on offer instead of four at 1/5 the odds.

Empirestateofmind e/w @ 66/1

Then, at an even bigger price, I suggest John & Sean Quinn's EMPIRESTATEOFMIND - also each-way with those valuable six places.

On the face of it, the six-year-old gelding's form has fallen a bit out of love with the game over the last 12 months, courtesy of four comprehensive defeats in as many races during that time. However, I'm not sure that's the full story.

Given his wind was done last November, it's fair to assume he was struggling with a breathing issue on his previous efforts - and he had a setback before his return this season and therefore probably wasn't ready for his run at York two months ago.

He improved a good amount for it, finishing much closer to the pace next time out in the Summer Cup Handicap at Thirsk, and now he lines up in the Cambridgeshire off a mark of 90 - his lowest since July '22.

He too has a liking for soft ground and will emerge from stall 23 and I think he's underestimated in the current market.

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