ITV Racing Tips: Saturday Each-Way Double for Newbury & Ripon

The Highclere Castle Gin Handicap has a competitive look to it but one participant who could still be ahead of the handicapper is HARRY BROWN (best price 7/1) who is down in grade after contesting two stronger handicaps the last two times and could just get the ideal set-up to regain the winning thread under Hayley Turner after already striking twice this year. 

All of his three wins have been on the all-weather but he did run fairly well when ninth of 26 in the Palace Of Holyrood House Stakes at Royal Ascot from a poor draw and ran ok when out of the weights when eighth back at the same course when last seen. That race was littered with higher-rated horses and he will definitely get a nice lead into the race with Punchbowl Flyer likely to go forward. 

Four places generally available. 

The William Hill Silver Trophy Handicap conversely doesn’t look as competitive as the numbers suggest compared to the first part of the double and given how well Paul Midgley has done in these similar sprint events over the years, I want to give a chance to one of the well-handicapped horses in the race, STRONG JOHNSON (best price 14/1) with five places across the board.

The seven-year-old has yet to win for his current handler or over this trip but ran his best race of the initial campaign when sixth of 19 in the Sky Bet 'Jump Jockeys' Nunthorpe' Handicap at York last-time-out. He didn’t show much in his two previous attempts at this trip but they proved inconclusive given one of them was on just his second ever start while the other came in a Listed event. 

He is now functioning on a career-low mark of 71 and if you go back to his time in Ireland, some of his best form came at this time of year with his last win coming off a 23 pounds higher mark (94) in August 2021. He is drawn in six, so it is probable Danny Tudhope, who takes the ride on him for the first time, will try to get a handy pitch and this trip might suit him better nowadays anyway. 

He is unexposed over six furlongs and normally, his handler tends to have multiple runners in these big-field Saturday handicaps so recognising he is Paul’s only representative in the race can only add to his positive claims. While he isn’t getting any younger and distinctly isn’t the force of old, it would come as a surprise if he couldn’t figure in a race like this, especially when most of these are struggling at present.