2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Preview – DS
2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Tips
The less said about the final day at Ascot the better. It was our only blank of what was a profitable week overall so we can’t have too many complaints. Hopefully Dave can get back amongst the winners this weekend, his 2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Tips are below.
1.55 York – Mile Handicap (Class 3)
We backed Stanage on his penultimate run over this C&D in a much stronger race than this and while he finished out of the money in sixth, he was only 2.5l behind the winner and 1l off a place in third. That run came off 87 and after a below par run at Epsom (ground was too soft) he is back at York off a mark of 84.
That’s the same mark he won off at Doncaster (7f, good) on the opening day of the season. Shane Gray comes in for the ride and he is 12/182 with 49 top 4 finishes when riding for Mick and David Easterby. If he can conjure up a similar display to the one Stanage produced here last month, hopefully they won’t be far away at odds of 18/1.
2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Tips: Stanage e/w @ 18/1 (4 places)
2.10 Newcastle – Chipchase Stakes (Group 3)
Given that I tipped up Annaf for a G1 at Ascot last Saturday, I can’t abandon him now he drops back into G3 company. Mick Appleby tried cheekpieces on the son of Muhaarar at Ascot and it is safe to say the experiment didn’t work. They have been quickly dispensed with, which is a plus, as is the return to Gosforth Park.
This 6yo has won five of his 13 starts on the AW and has finished out of the first three just twice. Six of those starts have come at this venue, producing form figures of 114232, including a second place in this race back in 2023.
Annaf had shaped well on his previous two starts before Ascot in Listed races at Haydock and Salisbury, so I think it makes sense to simply put a line through that last run. He didn’t have a hard race at Ascot so hopefully, he’ll get back on track here. At odds of 16/1, he is the e/w selection.
2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Tips: Annaf e/w @ 16/1
2.25 York – Criterion Stakes (Group 3)
The one that looks a shade overpriced in this G3 contest is Kevin Ryan’s son of Kodi Bear, Room Service. This 4yo has won four of his eleven starts and handles all sorts of ground. He landed his first stakes win in a 6f listed heat at Doncaster last November and he ran a blinder on his seasonal reappearance in a G3 at Haydock (7f, good).
Sent off at 28/1 that day, he looked like finishing last 2f out but when Tom Eaves asked him to pick up, he stayed on takingly in the final furlong to finish fourth, 3l behind the winner Ten Bob Tony and the runner up Kinross.
He should come on plenty for that run and he has run very well on both previous visits to this venue over 6f. He has a bit to find on official ratings but I think he at least ran to his mark off 109 at Haydock and with improvement likely to be forthcoming, he should be capable of maybe running to 114/115. At odds of 18/1, Room Service looks a cracking e/w bet.
2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Tips: Room Service e/w @ 18/1 NAP
2.40 Newcastle – Northumberland Vase Handicap (Class 2)
This is the consolation race for the big one. It’s still a hefty pot in its own right and the one I like at a half-decent price is the Jim Goldie trained Humble Spark. By Acclamation, who is usually a big speed influence, this fella has won six of his 21 starts on the AW, including four here.
Those four wins came at 1m2f and 12.5f but he proved his stamina for two miles when running on nicely for second at Haydock last month. The winner of that race, Caballo De Mar, ran a cracker in the Copper Horse at Ascot last week off 4lb higher on his next start and that suggests Humble Spark could be well treated off just 1lb higher here.
When Humble Spark ran over C&D at the AW Champs in April he got badly hampered and could only manage seventh. There’s always a chance that could happen again given that he likes to be held up early, but if he gets a smooth passage this afternoon he looks capable of going very close off this mark. At odds of 11/1, Humble Spark is the e/w selection.
2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Tips: Humble Spark e/w @ 11/1 (5 places) NB
3.15 Newcastle – Northumberland Plate Handicap (Heritage)
The 3.00 at York didn’t make any appeal from an e/w betting perspective so we move onto the main event of the day at Newcastle, The Pitmen’s Derby. As regular readers will know, I’m not a huge fan of these staying races on the Flat but we did manage to find Onesmoothoperator last year (12lb higher now) at 16s so hopefully, we can repeat the trick.
Gay Kelleway is a trainer with a decent record at this venue. She has sent out 13 winners from 106 runners (including a win in the Vase) with a further 37 top four finishes. That’s not far off a 50% frame hitting strike rate and she relies on Alrazeen here.
Hat-Trick
By Galileo Gold, this 4yo reeled off a hat-trick of AW wins at around 2m during the winter. His winning streak was ended off a mark of 89 at Southwell in February and he was beaten again off that mark at Kempton when last seen in March.
He got just 1lb back for those runs but with his promising rider’s claim, he’s effectively 2lb lower than when winning at Kempton in February. The horse he beat that day, Wonder Legend, hacked up in the AW Champs Marathon here two starts later so on that form, Alrazeen looks potentially well-treated.
Kelleway has freshened him up, presumably to get him ready for this, and he’s been handed a nice draw in stall 16. With odds of 50/1 on offer, Alrazeen is worth chancing e/w for small stakes.
2025 York & Newcastle Saturday Tips: Alrazeen e/w @ 50/1 (5 places)
3.30 Curragh – Pretty Polly Stakes (Group 1)
I have already tipped up Jancis for this race at odds of 20/1 and you can read why here. Just seven run and we are on for three places, hopefully we get a run for our money.
Nothing jumps out as being hugely overpriced in the 3.45 at Newcastle so this will be our final bet of the day.
