Horse Racing Tips: Appleby to continue his impressive Newmarket form

Flat racing holds sway across the UK and Ireland on Thursday with five meetings taking place across the afternoon and into the evening. First off is Newmarket before they go over jumps at Listowel and Perth and then a return to the flat at Pontefract and an all-weather evening at Wolverhampton completes the day.

Amongst our Thursday fancies is one for trainer Charlie Appleby, who has been outstanding at Newmarket this season and can build upon his impressive strike-rate.

13:50 Newmarket - Del Maro @ 11/10

An expensive £850,000 purchase by Godolphin, the Charlie Appleby-trained DEL MARO, will be hoping to justify that hefty price tag and this event could be the start for bigger and better things for the two-year-old.

This son of Camelot was unable to shake his maiden tag when he failed to justify favouritism at Doncaster last time out. However, he has shown signs of promise on both of his runs to date, including an eye-catching run on debut over on the July course, when finishing a close second despite showing his inexperience at times.

A return to his local track at Newmarket, albeit on the Rowley Mile this time, could be what he needs to finally break his maiden.

He is the only horse in the race who holds a graded entry, with him entered in the Futurity Trophy back at Doncaster, and this could end up being a stepping stone to that event.

14:25 Newmarket - Dark Shore @ 13/8

The second race on the opening day of the Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket is a competitive nursery handicap where cases can be made for many, including two Godolphin runners in Monoceros and Miss Honey.

However, Jane Chapple-Hyam’s DARK SHORE gets the nod.

The two-year-old comes into this with a nice piece of form, having finished second behind the subsequent Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes runner-up Into the Sky.

Chapple-Hyam’s colt was a hefty seven and half lengths behind Into the Sky that day, but finished with a two-length gap to the rest of the field.

He showed a good level of ability that day, sporting a hood for the first time and that stays on here as he makes his nursery debut. He can continue to improve here at Newmarket.

16:18 Perth - Chasing Fire @ 4/1

The Real Whacker is clearly the class act in this field, however, given that the nine-year-oldtypically needs a run to kick off the season, this hurdle race can be seen as a warm-up for his chasing campaign.

Therefore, looking elsewhere, Olly Murphy’s CHASING FIRE has a great opportunity to leave his mark here.

He was lightly raced last season, but showed signs of promise when finishing third here in his last run back in April.

The return to three miles should suit him well as he boasts a good record at this track, having previously won here over fences at this distance rated 134.

The eight-year-old usually performs well after a break and will enjoy the added benefit of having Champion Jockey Sean Bowen in the saddle.

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Horse Racing Tips from Betfred Insights.