Horse Racing Tips: Ride The Thunder can land the big one at Newcastle

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14:10 Newcastle - Noble Champion @ 15/2

This looks like a competitive and very open Group contest and a useful field of 12 has been declared. A return to winning ways could be on the cards for Ed Walker’s runner NOBLE CHAMPION as this looks like a good opportunity to get back on track.

It didn’t take him long to get off the mark and he was an impressive winner of a Lingfield maiden on just his second start. He came out on top by five-and-a-half lengths while being eased down approaching the line on that occasion.

Connections ran him in some good races as a three-year-old, including the Greenham Stakes, and he produced a career-best effort to win the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer. If he can produce a similar effort here, surely he will have every chance.

15:15 Newcastle - Ride The Thunder @ 8/1

Roger Varian’s RIDE THE THUNDER showed a fair amount of potential at the start of his career and managed to finish second in each of his first three starts in maiden and novice company, particularly when a one-length runner-up to the 115-rated Almeric at York.

He managed to get off the mark when upped to 1m2f on his first start as a three-year-old and the form has worked out well. Both the third and fourth have won multiple times since. Switching to handicaps after that, he ran well enough when fourth at Ascot and Goodwood.

The son of Night Of Thunder was denied by less than a length when upped to 1m6f for a valuable race at Haydock on his final start last season. Third behind Valiancy again on seasonal debut, he’s entitled to step forward for that and the new trip should suit.

15:55 Curragh - Thundering On @ 5/6

The Curragh’s feature race on Saturday is the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes and the three-year-old fillies get a chance to take on their elders in the 1m2f event. Joseph O’Brien’s THUNDERING ON couldn’t have been more impressive in the Oaks last time out.

She gets the nod on the back of that performance and connections have clearly always thought a lot of her, as they put her into a Group 3 on just her second start last term. She bolted up in an Oaks trial at Navan over this trip on her penultimate start.

It was a similar story last time out at Epsom and the winning margin probably wasn’t an accurate reflection of how dominant she was.

Dylan Browne McMonagle didn’t even ask for an effort until the final furlong and she put the race to bed very quickly. That form suggests she could be very special if taken at face value and a rating of 119 suggests she’s the one to beat once again.