Newbury, Newton Abbot (N.H.) and Ballinrobe (Ireland) this evening

The two most interesting races this evening at Newbury are reserved for fillies. The 2yo maiden at 20.25 has several well-bred fillies from big stables entered; 8 of the 14 runners are debutants, which makes a selection difficult. Of those that have run, Cape Dollar (Sir Michael Stoute/ Richard Mullen) and Zanazzi (John Gosden/ Robert Havlin) are the pick, but the newcomers Sahafh (Saeed bin Suroor/ Frankie Dettori) and Celebrity (Richard Hannon/ Pat Dobbs) could be very dangerous. The same teams could also be involved in the 3yo handicap at 21.30, with top-weight Nafura (bin Suroor/ Dettori), Heavenly Dawn (Stoute(/ Mullen) and Namaskar (Gosden/ Havlin) all with a chance; the one to beat could be Sea of Heartbreak (Roger Charlton/ Steve Drowne), who has won both her 2010 starts in good style, but has gone up e lot in the weights as a result.

Paul Nicholls keeps a low profile in the summer, but could be among the winners today at Newton Abbot, where Prince Tom (Robert Thornton) in the maiden hurdle at 19.30 and Al Amaan (Ian Popham), top-weight in the novice handicap hurdle at 21.10, both have good prospects. He also saddles Conflict of Interest (Harry Skelton) in the novice chase at 20.35, but recent winners Gee Dee Nen (Gary and Jamie Moore) and Smack That (Milton Harris/ Peter Toole) are probably stronger, and Now Listen to Me (Thornton) in the handicap chase at 21.40, but here we prefer German-bred Alroyal (PC Dando/ DG Pritchard).

Another leading jumps trainer to have runners this evening is Willie Mullins, who saddles Angela´s Lashes (great name!) (Katie Walsh) in the 1 3/4 mile maiden at 18.40 at Ballinrobe and De Senectute (Pat Smullen) in a handicap over the same trip half an hour later. Both have good chances, and we also like Gra Gael da mo Chroi (Augustin Leahy/ EJ McNamara) in the 9 furlongs handicap here at 20.50.