ITV horse racing tips: Saturday July 12 – Ascot, Newmarket, York

Telegraph

11-07-2025

Ron Wood's selections:
NAP:
More Thunder (2.50, Newmarket) 1pt win @ 6/4 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Next best:
Jakajaro (4.50, Ascot) 1pt win @ 14/1 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Others:
Snow Light (1.40, Newmarket) 1pt win @ 7/4 with Betfred ⭐
Flight Plan (2.00, York) 1pt win @ 10/1 with Betfred ⭐⭐
Miss Nightfall (2.12, Newmarket) 1pt win @ 9/4 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Quddwah (2.22, Ascot) 1pt win @ 11/4 with Betfred ⭐⭐
Washington Heights (2.35, York) 1pt win @ 2/1 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Archivist (3.10, York) 1pt win @ 3/1 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Fifth Column (3.25, Newmarket) 1pt win @ 5/2 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Al Qareem (3.45, York) 1pt win @ 13/8 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Italy (4.00, Newmarket) 1pt win @ 8/13 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Spy Chief (4.35, Newmarket) 1pt each-way @ 18/1 with Betfred ⭐⭐⭐
Odds provided by Betfred and correct at the time of writing. Stars denote strength of selection (max 5).
If you already have a Betfred account and are looking for a new bookmaker to use for this week's racing, check out more free bets from the best betting sites, reviewed by our experts.
1.40, Newmarket – Maiden Fillies' Stakes (7f)
This is the first of 12 races being shown live on ITV1 in a bumper broadcast that runs from 1.30pm to 5.10pm on Saturday and covers three tracks.
As a maiden contest, it is not an obvious one for free-to-view TV coverage, but it kicks off the final day of the Newmarket July Festival and last year it was won by Desert Flower, who landed this season's 1,000 Guineas.
Her trainer, Charlie Appleby, has two newcomers in this latest running and stable jockey William Buick rides SNOW LIGHT, suggesting she is the preferred hope to Dancing Flower, the other Dark Angel daughter. There are, though, some other potential good 'uns in here, so this is a race to play tentatively, if at all.
Selection: Snow Light 1pt win @ 7/4 with Betfred
2.00, York – Class 2 Handicap (1m)
Blue For You will be trying to win this race for a third year in a row. But preference is for FLIGHT PLAN, who won a Group 3 in 2023 and showed he is still capable when taking the Thirsk Hunt Cup in May.
Forget his latest outing, when he had an unhelpful draw and the ground was too slow for him at Epsom.
This test is good for his forward-going style, York being a flat turning track and with the going fast.
Selection: Flight Plan 1pt win @ 10/1 with Betfred
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2.12, Newmarket – Fillies' Handicap (Class 2, 7f)
There is still better to come from MISS NIGHTFALL, who shaped well when second in a 7f Goodwood handicap against male rivals on her reappearance.
She then went off 16/5 favourite for the Sandringham at Royal Ascot, a short price in a 25-runner handicap, and although she finished only sixth she had too big a task in coming from off the pace, again shaping with promise.
2.22, Ascot – Summer Mile (Group 2, 1m)
Three winners from this year's Royal Ascot line up in this race, namely Haatem (Wolferton), My Cloud (Royal Hunt Cup) and Never So Brave (Buckingham Palace).
However, QUDDWAH won this contest last year and may be the answer again. He was below form in the Queen Anne at the Royal meeting, but that was a muddling race and he had earlier won a Longchamp Listed event.
Before winning this in 2024, he had landed an Ascot Listed race, narrowly defeating Docklands, who won this year's Queen Anne.
Selection: Quddwah 1pt win @ 11/4 with Betfred
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2.35, York – City Walls Stakes (Listed, 5f)
This drop in class should do the trick for WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, who usually contests Group races, most recently finishing seventh of 20 in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Kevin Ryan's runner has some good course form.
2.50, Newmarket – Bunbury Cup (Heritage Handicap, 7f)
Just about the biggest eyecatcher of the week at Royal Ascot last month, MORE THUNDER is hard to ignore now.
This William Haggas charge made up a huge amount of ground for a close second when 3/1 favourite in the 6f Wokingham handicap, and jockey Tom Marquand briefly had a slight tack issue in the closing stages.
The horse had won his two previous starts in 6f handicaps at Newmarket's other course since joining Haggas and this step back up a furlong will help him, keeping in mind he won over 1m 2f when trained by Sir Michael Stoute.
Our NAP More Thunder gets to race off the same mark as at Ascot, so is 3lb well in, and Haggas has him Group 1-entered.
3.10, York – John Smith's Cup (Heritage Handicap, 1m 2f)
Haggas has another strong chance in a big handicap with a former Stoute inmate, this time with ARCHIVIST.
The selection has won his previous two starts, most recently a mile handicap at this venue, for which he is penalised, leaving him 2lb well in.
This Dubawi colt was a bit headstrong last time, so could do with settling over this longer trip, but he ought to be fine and just looks better than his mark.
3.25, Newmarket – Class 2 Handicap (1m)
This is a cracking little handicap for three-year-olds. Charlie Appleby, who has a good record in this race, has a couple of promising representatives in Bedouin Prince and Secret Theory – the latter defeated the aforementioned Archivist when conceding 7lb at Nottingham in April.
However, it is another Godolphin-owned runner, FIFTH COLUMN for John and Thady Gosden, who marginally makes most appeal.
The selection was one of only two horses the Gosdens had entered in the Group 1 Dewhurst last season, the other being the top-class Field Of Gold, who shares the same sire, Kingman.
Fifth Column was proving frustrating, but he won his first two starts this year after being gelded, notably the Esher Cup at Sandown when he defeated Seraph Gabriel, who was then a nose away from victory in the Golden Gates at Royal Ascot.
Fifth Column ran at Ascot as well. He was 'only' seventh in the Britannia handicap, but the best of 10 runners who raced on his part of the track and he still looks well handicapped.
3.45, York – Silver Cup (Group 3, 1m 6f)
AL QAREEM was second in this event last year and improved to a high-class level when running away with a course-and-distance (C&D) Listed race last time.
He has previously looked best suited by slow ground, but conditions were quick last time. If there are any worries, it could be an issue that this comes only four weeks on from such a big effort and that he might not want fast conditions again. But he is the outstanding form horse.
That most recent level was boosted when third-placed El Cordobes, beaten by nine-and-a-half lengths, won a Group 2 at Newmarket on Thursday.
4.00, Newmarket – Superlative Stakes (Group 2, 7f)
Aidan O'Brien has had the winner of this race four times, most notably with subsequent Derby winner City Of Troy in 2023, and the trainer has a bright prospect this time in ITALY, who was an odds-on victor of a Leopardstown maiden on his debut.
That form was boosted when the runner-up, Thesecretadversary, was second in the Listed Chesham at Royal Ascot.
Italy is expected to improve loads and is just preferred to Saba Desert, one of two runners for Charlie Appleby.
Saba Desert was an odds-on winner of a Sandown maiden on his debut, a race that the same trainer won with Native Trail before that one's success in this contest in 2021. Appleby has triumphed in the Superlative five times.
4.35, Newmarket – July Cup (Group 1, 6f)
For a big-field sprint, there are not actually many frontrunners in this edition of the July Cup – and there is a fair chance that the rapid SPY CHIEF, from stall 14 of 15, can show the way towards the far rail.
This Kingman gelding, for the Gosdens, made all in a 6f Yarmouth novice on his third start, winning by five-and-a-half lengths, before running second in the 7f Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot just nine days later.
Nothing could live with him early on in the Jersey – he was soon clear up front. He could not see it out, hanging left as he faded. But he has had another three weeks since then, and this 6f event will be much more of a speed test than the Ascot race.
His connections have seen enough to supplement him into the July Cup at a cost of £36,000, and he has the added help – considering he went left late on last time – of being drawn near the left-side rail.
4.50, Ascot – Heritage Handicap (5f)
This competitive sprint handicap completes the ITV action and our next-best pick JAKAJARO looks to have decent claims.
This ex-Irish-trained runner has dropped quite a bit in the handicap in just four unplaced outings since joining Robert Cowell, having been bought for 200,000gn last October. However, his first two starts for his current trainer came in Dubai, which can be excused.
He then probably needed his run at Windsor in June, which came after 100 days off, and his most recent contest at Newcastle, when he showed up well from the front, was promising.
Jakajaro did not quite see that out, but Jamie Spencer takes over now and will probably hold him up, which could make the difference.
Selection: Jakajaro 1pt win @ 14/1 with Betfred
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Today's racing
(Flat unless stated)
Dundalk 1.20-5.15
Limerick 1.32-5.00
Newmarket 1.40-5.10
Ascot 1.45-5.20
York 2.00-5.25
Chester 4.20-7.10
Salisbury 5.40-8.20
Hamilton 5.50-9.00
What does NAP mean?
Nap is a word used in betting circles to describe a prediction that a tipster thinks has a particularly strong chance of winning.
Many horse racing tipsters pick out a 'nap of the day', which is their favoured selection from all the races across the different meetings.
The term nap derives from the French card game Napoleon. When players of this game thought they had a particularly strong hand that they would win with, they would shout 'Napoleon'.
What is an each-way bet?
An each-way bet is a popular type of wager, particularly with horse racing fans. It is essentially two bets, both of which have the same size stake.
An each-way bet features one bet on the selection to win and the other bet on the selection to place.
So a £10 each-way bet will cost you a total of £20. There will be one £10 bet on the selection to win and another £10 on the selection to place.
It's a popular bet because it offers punters the chance of a return, even if the horse in question fails to win. Bookmakers will pay out at a stated percentage of the odds for a place finish, for example one-fifth of the starting price (SP) for finishing in the first three.
The more runners there are in a horse race, the more places will be on offer. In races that feature lots of runners, the horses will be available at bigger odds, making an each-way bet a wise choice.
Star ratings explained
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - confident selection
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - strong fancy
⭐⭐⭐ - fair claims
⭐⭐ - tentative choice
⭐ - minimum confidence