Horse Racing Tips: Rhys Williams is backing outsiders in the two-miler at Newbury

Return to testing conditions to suit

Newbury 13:25: Beaufort West 1pt win 18/1

Beaufort West has yet to build on the promise of his first start for this yard at Sandown last season but now that he returns to a much softer surface, I think he may be capable of belatedly achieving that.

While that race at Sandown did fall apart a bit because of the incident at the first fence, High Up In The Air wasn't affected by that and he went on to win comfortably off a 6lb higher mark next time.

Beaufort West was never in contention on his next start over the same C&D on much quicker ground but he ran well for a long way at Uttoxeter when stepped up to 2m4f after that, being only a few lengths behind the leaders at 3 out before fading away.

The ground was far too quick for him at Kempton two starts ago so that run can be easily excused and he shaped quite nicely on his return to action at Ascot over hurdles last time, staying in touch with the leading group until the final bend.

Beaufort West has been dropped surprisingly quickly by the handicapper and now races off a 10lb lower mark than when finishing second at Sandown and 12lb lower than when running well for a long way at Uttoxeter.

He wasn't always reliable for his former yard even when getting his conditions so that is a slight concern, as is the potential for him to be outpaced in the early stages if they go a strong pace, but I think this ground gives him a better chance than the market suggests and any 14/1 or bigger appeals.

Could be better suited by British style of racing

Newbury 13:25: Fix At All 0.5pt win 14/1

Fix At All is making his first start in Britain having previously raced in France for François Nicolle and I think he may be better suited to this test than those he's often faced in France.

He showed some ability early in his career over hurdles and, after a ten-month break, on his first two starts over fences when looking to not quite see out the trip, the second of those coming behind Le Berry at Compiegne.

He got off the mark over fences at Auteuil in testing conditions at the end of last year when winning with more in hand than the margin suggests, having looked to idle on the run-in.

Fix At All continued to show a fairly good level of ability in the Spring this year, both over hurdles and fences, but he was brought down on his first run of the Autumn and he ran a bit disappointingly on his final start in France when third at Auteuil.

It is also a slight worry that he showed a tendency to jump out to the right that day given that he runs on a left-handed track today but it could be that the below par run is linked to an issue that was causing him to do that.

I thought he looked the type who would benefit from a well-run race over distances around two miles based on what he showed in France and that he may be more suited to British fences than the variety of fences in France so there could be some improvement to come from him. Any 12/1 or bigger appeals.