Fox Tal has a Royal Ascot victory to his name and will look to qualify for All-Weather Championships Finals Day this afternoon; Sedgefield and Lingfield all contribute on a busy Friday, live on Sky Sports Racing
Thursday 12 January 2023 12:38, UK
Andrew Balding’s Fox Tal is a class act and heads a nice field of six in the headline All-Weather Championships Fast-Track Qualifier at Newcastle this evening.
The BetUK Over 40,000 Live Streamed Races Handicap (1:10) looks particularly competitive, with two last time out winners and another pair who have been running into form of late.
El Hombre and Incrimination both won last time, with Billy Loughnane taking 7lb off the former and William Carver claiming 5lb off the latter.
Swiss Pride and Come On Girl are the other two running well, with the latter trained by the red-hot Mick Appleby team.
The afternoon's jumping action comes from Sedgefield, and the Best Odds Guaranteed At Vickers.Bet Everyday Handicap Chase (2:20) is the feature and a very competitive one at that.
11 runners line up and Zuckerberg could be the place to start, with Jennie Candlish boasting four winners from just seven runners this season, including this horse who won over fences here in November.
Sam and Jonathan England combine with Tom Creen, who has two firsts and a pair of seconds in his last four starts while Large Action is penalised for an excellent success last time for the Roger Fell team.
Andrew Balding could have ran Fox Tal on Thursday at this venue but has opted to run over a mile instead of 10 furlongs in this Fast-Track Qualifier (5:15).
He is coming off a layoff of over 300 days and is the joint-highest rated in this race, alongside Excel Power who was a good second for the Archie Watson team at Wolves 17 days ago.
Of the others worth noting, the Simon & Ed Crisford team are in flying form and run Intuitive - all six of his victories have came on all-weather surfaces.
Watch Newcastle, Sedgefield and Lingfield live on Sky Sports Racing on Friday, January 13.
