Saturday Antepost Horse Racing Tips: O'Meara 7/1 pick can be our lead man at Newbury

• Suite Francaise a 12/113.00 winner for the column last week

• Two handicap tips for Newbury at 7/24.50 and 7/18.00 for Saturday

• Alan Dudman previews this weekend with an early look at the markets 

Banking on fast going for Saturday at Newbury

5f 34y Handicap - Newbury, Saturday August 16, 14:25

Newbury's Saturday card comes at the end of a scorchio week in terms of weather, and anything other than good to firm ground would be a surprise with watering. How liberal that will be is the question.

The two handicaps look the best punting options and min the 14:25, I am afraid to say the favourite looks the best option at a price of 7/24.50.

I fancied Getreadytorumble recently at Goodwood and he posted a decent showing in third at a track that wouldn't have been his ideal set-up, while the ground had gone to officially heavy due to the monsoon conditions in Sussex. However, a word of note, Timeform rated the surface "good to soft".

Readers might be throwing rotting fruit at me like some medieval jester for suggesting Goodwood isn't his track as he did win there in June by over 2L. But there was a fast horse to aim at that day and he was being pushed and nudged along halfway, although not leading and running 10.22 and 10.40 in the middle part of the race was decent. And he's progressed since then.

Trainer Jack Channon's form is also another positive as of Tuesday morning he was 4-15 at 27% including Johan in a Group 3 at Leopardstown, a Listed win in France and even a third place with Urban Lion in the Shergar Cup jamboree.

Very much a yard in form.

Others to note in the field at bigger prices - Grandlad is super quick and has come down to a winnable mark, and he took advantage of that to rouse himself up the Hamilton hill last time despite being pestered.

He's a pace-setter, while Glamorous Breeze is likeable and ran a fine race in fifth recently at Ascot on fast ground off a mark of 88 and has been lowered 1lb for Saturday, so I would be tempted to monitor him as an each-way play.

Leadman looks a play at 7/18.00 for Newbury 

TPT Fire Handicap - Newbury, Saturday August 16, 15:00

The 15:00 is another race sub-1m at 7f with a good old mix of hardy veterans and three-year-olds.

Documenting will be on his 70th career start as a 12-year-old with 12 victories to his name, nine silver medals and eight thirds - a remarkable effort.

He's at 33/134.00 while Cogitate (a bit of a cliff horse for a while) has to be ignored due to the poor form of Charlie Hills.

Leadman at 7/18.00 looks of great interest as he beat Two Tribes at Newmarket in July and Two Tribes has since won the Moet & Chandon at Ascot and the Stewards Cup at Goodwood off a mark of 95.

Indeed, that Newmarket success is a strong piece of form with Sterling Knight winning subsequently and Up The Pace was fourth in the Shergar Cup.

You have to completely forget Leadman's last run at Goodwood as he was hampered early an never got involved. It's one to scrub off.

Leadman's profile is not too dissimilar to that of New Image, a horse the owners and David O'Meara picked up from Juddmonte and was rated in the 90s, and with Saturday's selection still on the unexposed side with just six turf runs, I am happy to have a go at home at 7/18.00.

He does have quite a few seconds to his name already with five odds-on defeats in-running to his name - including hitting 1.11/10 on his debut in 2022, and it goes without saying he travels well in his races.

Key to him could be keeping him switched off out the back with a good pace at 7f, and he could still have more ability than his current mark of 89.

Leadman does hold an entry for York next week too.

Great St Wilfrid the feature from Ripon - and a 10/111.00 tip appeals

Great St Wilfrid Handicap - Ripon, Saturday August 16, 15:20

Ripon's best race of the season takes its centre-stage position on the ITV cameras, and I am already chalking up the price of Over 2.5 contours and ridges mentions (I am backing the overs).

The draw is obviously going to play a part, so penning the column on a Tuesday isn't easy.

Four of the entries held 100+ ratings while Orazio's mark was in three figures but is tumbling down at a rate of knots, although he's trained by Charlie Hills and it's impossible to recommend a bet form a yard that is struggling for winners.

Alzahir is another of the Two Tribes thread of form, although he was a few lengths behind in the Stewards' Cup a couple of weeks ago.

The ready-made excuse as the takeout from that, or perhaps in marketing speak as I heard on a train once "wash-up session", was that he was drawn in the wrong place.

Two Tribes was near-side, with more speed and runners and the first five home came stands' rail. Alzahir was travelling pretty nicely at the halfway point and seemed to make his move perhaps too early, but he was down the centre of the track and ended up a little isolated.

I'd say the ground went against him too at Goodwood, as it had turned officially good to soft with cut, plus the over-zealous watering of Ed Arkell there, known as the Neptune of the downs.

Alzahir made great strides with three wins on the spin earlier in the campaign - on good and good to firm and usually likes to be right up with the pace.

At 10s, ground should be just right and we've got an each-way runner if the draw gods are kind.

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