Newcastle stages some quality all-weather racing this weekend, the highlight of which is tomorrow’s JenningsBet Northumberland Plate (3.15 p.m.). As I feared in last week’s column, my main fancy for the race has not made the “cut” and is instead in the consolation race.
Cerulean Bay was one of the many eyecatchers at Royal Ascot despite being out of the places
There are two main reasons why the quality of this meeting, run on an artificial Tapeta surface, is particularly high this year. Firstly, the generous level of prize money – the Plate, for example, is worth more than £77,000 to winning connections. Secondly, a lot of trainers whose horses prefer soft ground are observing the current heatwave and concluding a race on the all-weather is better than no run at all.
Sticking with the Plate, DANCING IN PARIS has a good chance of going one better than he did last year when he was second, beaten only a neck, to Spirit Mixer with the rest of the field three or more lengths away.
Trainer Ian Williams’ six-year-old gelding has dropped down to a nice mark again of 92, just 3 lbs higher than 12 months ago. Dougie Costello, who has winning form on Dancing In Paris, takes the ride and this race will surely have been the horse’s target for some time.
