An excellent entry of 129 has been received for the first leg of the Autumn Double, the £130,000 totesport Cambridgeshire at Newmarket on Saturday, October 1, with the Andrew Reid-trained Eccentric heading the weights on 9st 10lb for the famous nine-furlong handicap.
The four-year-old was successful in the Group Three totepool Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor on his last start on August 27, getting the better of Hattan by three-quarters of a length.
Last year's 100/1 winner Spanish Don (9st 2lb), trained by David Elsworth, could bid to become the seventh dual winner of this very prestigious contest - to do so he will have to overcome 9lb more on his back than when he prevailed by a neck from Take A Bow in 2004.
Sir Mark Prescott, seeking his fourth totesport Cambridgeshire success, has made two entries, headed by Pedrillo (9st 4lb), a decisive winner of the Cadogan Silver Salver at York on August 27, who is made the 10/1 ante-post favourite by the sponsors totesport. Pedrillo started the 7/2 favourite for last year's totesport Cambridgeshire but finished 22nd of the 32 runners.
Paul Petrie, totesport spokesman, commented today: "Pedrillo was backed from 20/1 all the way down and it is obvious that this race is once again the target. The horse is in good form and is a worthy favourite but whether he receives the same sort of support as last year remains to be seen."
totesport betting - 10 Pedrillo, 12 Cesare, Musicanna, Stronghold, 14 Another Bottle, Ashkal Way, 16 All That and More, Blue Monday, Ecomium, Evaluator, Rohaani, Sound Breeze, 20 Ballast, Blue Spinnaker, Crosspeace, Eden Rock, Momtic, Notability, Polar Magic, Realism, Royal Prince, Spanish Don, Unshakable, 25 Ace of Hearts, Alamiyan, Blythe Knight, Bridge Loan, Cashier, Cimyla, Counsels Opinion, Courageous Duke, Elliots World, Impeller, Jalamid, Kamanda Laugh, Kew Green, Notnowcato, Rehearsal, Resplendent One, Zalongo, 33 Able Baker Charlie, Auditorium, Balavista, Benedict, Brindisi, Colisay, Coup D'Etat, Danehill Willy, Dansili Dancer, Desert Destiny, Eccentric, Ettrick Water, Gavroche, Invasion, James Caird, Kharish, Langford, Literatim, Motive, My Paris, One to Win, Plectrum, Polygonal, Putra Kuantan, Real Quality, Red Racketeer, Royal Island, Salinja, Spectait, St Petersburg, Star of Light, Todman Ave, Trew Class, Zero Tolerance 40/1 Bar
Each-way a quarter the odds 1,2,3,4,5
Also prominent in the betting are two of James Fanshawe's five entries - Musicanna (9st) and Cesare (8st 11lb) - who are both 12/1 shots. Musicanna has won four of her five races, including the Listed Atalanta Stakes over a mile at Sandown last time out, while Cesare finished a close third in the totesport Mile at Goodwood on July 29. Stronghold, trained by John Gosden to win mile handicaps at Haydock and Newmarket recently, is also a 12/1 chance.
William Jarvis's Momtic (9st 9lb) and Ecomium (9st 8lb), trained by Jeremy Noseda, are among the current top-weights.
Momtic won a handicap at York on August 18 by a neck from Elliots World (9st 4lb), while Ecomium captured a Newmarket maiden last year and went on to finish runner-up in a Listed event at the Curragh on his following start.
Other leading contenders include Chris Wall's consistent performer Ace Of Hearts (9st 5lb), successful in the valuable totescoop6 Handicap at Sandown in July, Luca Cumani's Ballast (9st 5lb), runner-up in the Royal Hunt Cup, and Kew Green (9st 6lb), owned by Newmarket director Peter Jensen and a winner over the course and distance back in May in the totesport Suffolk Handicap.
93 FOR totesport CESAREWITCH
The second leg of the Autumn double, the £130,000 totesport Cesarewitch, run over two and a quarter miles on Saturday, October 15, Champions' Day, has attracted a sparkling entry of 93.
Heading the weights on 9st 10lb for this year's contest is useful hurdler True Lover, who showed he was a very capable performer on the Flat last season when third in the Group Three Persian Punch Jockey Club Cup on Champions' Day last year at Newmarket.
He is closely followed by the Rod Millman-trained Sergeant Cecil (9st 9lb), who has already bagged two of this season's biggest staying handicaps - the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle and totesport Ebor at York.
Others at the head of the handicap include Sir Michael Stoute's tough veteran Cover Up (9st 8lb), the David Elsworth-trained Balkan Knight (9st 5lb), fourth in the totesport Ebor at York, Tungsten Strike (9st 4lb), runner-up to Sergeant Cecil in the Northumberland Plate, and Saint Alebe (8st 13lb), who is an interesting potential contender in that he has not been seen out since winning the totesport Ebor in 2003.
Irish interest comes in the form of Dermot Weld's duo of Orpington (9st 7lb), a Listed winner earlier this season, and Zeroberto (7st), while Aidan O'Brien has made entries for the lightly-raced pair of Hippodrome (8st 2lb) and Street Of Gold (7st 10lb).
Jump trainers have done well in the totesport Cesarewitch in recent years, with two wins for Martin Pipe and one for Nicky Henderson. This time around, Pipe could be represented by Fortune Island (8st 8lb), successful at this year's July Meeting and fourth in the Goodwood Stakes last time out, as well as Penny Pictures (8st 2lb) and Calamintha (7st 9lb).
Henderson has entered the winning hurdler Afrad (8st 11lb), successful on his last two Flat starts in the Swan Hotel Lavenham Handicap at the July Meeting and Goodwood Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
Peter Bowen has a trio to choose from, headed by the versatile campaigner Mr Ed (8st 11lb), the half-length second to Contact Dancer in the 2004 totesport Cesarewitch as well as being a winner over both hurdles and fences.
The totesport Cesarewitch is one of the few big handicaps to have eluded Sir Mark Prescott but the Newmarket handler could well make amends in 2005, as he has made seven entries, headed by Circassian (9st), a comfortable winner at Beverley last time, with the others being Red Damson (9st), Tempsford (8st 10lb), Elusive Dream (8st 9lb), Cordial (8st 6lb), Fall In Line (8st 3lb) and Incroyable (7st 6lb).
The sponsors make Baddam (7st 11lb), trained by John Dunlop to win his last two races including the Breheny Handicap at Newmarket on August 26, and Sendintank (9st), seventh in the totesport Ebor last time out, the joint 10/1 favourites.
totesport betting -10 Baddam, Sendintank, 14 Afrad, Circassian, Elusive Dream, Inchnadamph, Sergeant Cecil, 16 Balkan Knight, Fall in Line, Genghis, Hippodrome, Red Damson, 20 Cordial, Cover up, Escayola, Land n Stars, My Immortal, Odiham, Race the Ace, Streets of Gold, Tempsford, Ten Carat, Tungsten Strike, 25 Bronwen, Cold Turkey, Corrib Eclipse, Fortune Island, High Action, Highland Games, Incroyable, King Revo, Lets Roll, Manyana, Mirjan, Most Definitely, Mr Ed, Nation State, Orpington, Saint Alebe, Unleash, Without a Trace, Wing Collar 33 Bayeux, Big Moment, Cruise Director, Cruzspiel, Distant Prospect, Dr Sharp, Football Crazy, High Point, Inchpast, Penny Pictures, Quedex, Quizzene, Regal Setting, Salut Saint Cloud, Sentinel, Soulacroix, Stoop to conquer, Sweet Indulgence, Swift Sailor, True Lover, Vaughan, Vinando, 40/1 Bar
Each-way a quarter the odds 1,2,3,4,5
Tickets are on sale for all of Newmarket's autumn fixtures with generous advance booking discounts available.
Visit www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk or call 01638 675 500.
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