Saturday at Newmarket

this column is taking the next 3 days off, but before we leave, we shall have a quick look at Saturday´s excellent Newmarket card - 6 group races plus the Cesarewitch, one of the hottest handicaps of the year with 34 runners over 2 1/4 miles at 16.50 CET. N.H. trainers often shine here, and Nicky Henderson has a strong hand with Sentry Duty (Johnny Murtagh), 6th last year after not getting a clear run, and Veiled (Eddie Ahern), unbeaten in 2 starts on the flat this year; both are smart hurdlers, and we expect both of them to do well. 4 of the group races are for 2yo ´s and they include the Group One Middle Park Stakes over 6 furlongs at 15.35 and the Group One Dewhurst Stakes over 7 furlongs at 16.10 -a ludicrous clash. For the record our selections are the French-trained Family One and the Irish hope Power respectively. Strong Suit (Richard Hannon/ Richard Hughes) looks the best bet of the day in the opening Challenge Stakes over 7 furlongs at 15.05, while we hope that our old friend Premio Loco (Chris Wall/ George Baker) runs well in the final Darley Stakes at 18.35, even though the race conditions are against him.

This column will be back on Tuesday.