Saturday Racing Tips: Favourites should have a good afternoon

Racing on Saturday in the UK and Ireland comes from Doncaster, Galway, Goodwood, Hamilton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Thirsk on what is a stellar day of action on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Galway passed their precautionary morning inspection, with the green light given for racing to go ahead.

It is the fifth and final day of Glorious Goodwood and one of our fancies comes in the feature race of the afternoon, the Stewards’ Cup. A Charlie Hills runner can be too quick for his rivals in the 6f contest at the Sussex venue.

Tip 1

FREE WIND prevailed for the third time at this level when she landed the Middleton Filles’ Stakes at York (1m2½f) at the Dante Meeting earlier in the campaign. Over a trip that was on the short side for her, she showed her class on the Knavesmire.

The talented five-year-old mare then suffered defeat in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot on her latest outing. Given how consistent she has been over the last three years, that one flat performance can be forgiven.

John and Thady Gosden’s runner features on the Betfred Betfinder as a course winner this afternoon – she broke her maiden at this course by nine lengths back in 2021.

This is his first appearance back here since that large-margin triumph and she can get back to winning ways in the Group Two Lillie Langtry Stakes.

Tip 2

ORAZIO will be bidding to give Charlie Hills a third success in the Stewards’ Cup. He last won the race in 2019 with Khaadem and this horse has a similar profile to the former winner of this 6f contest.

The four-year-old appreciated the cut the in ground earlier in the season to win back-to-back handicaps at Newmarket (6f) and Ascot (6f) respectively. He then finished sixth of 27 runners on ground that was too quick for him in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot.

The son of Caravaggio remains open to improvement, so this mark of 102 is workable. He will be coming out of stall six which is a good draw in this large field contest.

Tip 3

This maiden on day six of the Galway Races Festival represents a great opportunity for SIMPSON’S PARADOX to get off the mark. Jessica Harrington’s gelding can make good use of his experience so far to get his nose in front this time around.

The three-year-old produced his best run so far last month at Killarney (1m). On what was his first attempt since he was gelded, he came home second of eight runners, going down by less than a length.

With an official rating of 82 already, the son of Mastercraftsman will not need to improve much to land a race of this quality. He is up against several debutants and they are likely to need this run before they can show what they are capable of.