Charlie McCann's Horse Racing Tips Saturday, 19 September - Ayr & Newbury
Charlie heads to Ayr on Saturday for his best bet
It's a busy day of racing action in the UK and Ireland, and Charlie McCann is here with his exclusive free horse racing tips - only at FreeBets.
There is rain forecast overnight at Ayr, and conditions for the opening day of the Western Meeting are likely to be a mix of soft and good to soft.
1:20pm Ayr - Thunder Roar (Each-Way)
The three-year-old McMurray has only seen the track once so far this term, but it was a winning return at Chester back in the spring from a 4lbs lower mark. He has been gelded in the interim period and has yet to encounter soft ground, but he has now won his last four starts, and it will be fascinating to see if the market speaks in his favour.
This meeting often throws up back-to-back winners, and last year's 1-2 THUNDER ROAR (Each-Way) and Theoryofeverything are back for more this year, and I hope to see the winner confirm the form from a 3lb lower mark with Tom Marquand an eye-catching booking.
The each-way selection landed a gamble (5s from 9/1) twelve months ago, and he looks to have been laid out for the race again. He will relish the soft ground, and four of his five career wins have come in September or October. The 8/1 freely available about the selection while I was writing the copy went on Friday morning, although there was 15/2 still available in a place.
Yes, it is possible that – at the age of seven – he is not as good as he was, but this is his time of the year and I thought he represented the value, although he does have plenty to find with Spoken Truth and English Oak on recent Ripon running. The former went through that race like a class act and should be market leader in my opinion, but I hope we see the real Thunder Roar under his optimum conditions today. Note the winning time at Ripon suggested conditions were more good to soft than soft.
Theoryofeverything failed to get home over ten furlongs last time but had scored over course and distance on his penultimate start under Jason Hart and is 4lbs lower than when second in 2025.
Recommendation: Thunder Roar (Each-Way) - 15/2 with bet365 (4 places)
3:05pm Ayr - Silent Beauty (Nap)
I would have very few juveniles in my tracker, but SILENT BEAUTY (Nap) is one of them, and I will be disappointed if she cannot land the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Cup for Amo Racing.
The filly cost €1m as a yearling and has won two of her three starts this term, both on good to soft ground. She bombed out at Royal Ascot on lightning-fast ground mid-summer, but she is out of the Group 1 winner No Speak Alexander - who went on all ground - and she looked ready for a step up in grade when running away with the listed two-year-old Trophy at Ripon last time, although she was running against the favoured stands' rail and may have been flattered by the margin of victory.
Richard Hannon's Dark Issue ran well at Salisbury when second in a listed contest (good to soft) last time and looks the one to beat, although I was impressed with the heavy ground success of Etonnante, although that was only a modest four-runner Novice. She coped well with conditions, however, and is held in high regard by connections.
Recommendation: Silent Beauty (Nap) - 7/4 with bet365
This is Charlie's Nap of the Day selection - see how it stacks up against Alan Kelly's pick too.
2:47pm Newbury - Almekeram & Capall Rasa
My two against the field in the valuable 10f Dubai Duty Free Handicap are the recent Doncaster winner, the four-year-old ALMEKAREM and the year younger CAPALL RASA, who returns from a three-month lay-off having changed hands in the interim period.
Almekarem has been raised 5lbs for winning at Doncaster last Friday when Luke Morris was purposely slowly away from his wide draw and did tremendously well to weave his way through the seventeen-runner field to win going away. His form over ten furlongs this season reads 1-2-2-1, and his new mark of eighty-five may not yet be his ceiling.
Capall Rasa got no run in the London Cup over course and distance back in the spring – his sole try at ten furlongs when trained by Tom Dascombe and changed hands for 215,000 gns at the Sales in July. He ran an excellent race when fifth in the Britannia, arguably finished best of all, over a mile at Royal Ascot, although he was racing on the favoured stands' side.
It is possible that he is flattered by the run, but I am a big fan of his new trainer Ed Bethell, and he does have an entry in the Cambridgeshire next month. Callum Rodriguez is claimed by Owen Burrows to ride Merveilleux Lapin, and Connor Beasley takes over on the three-year-old.
Recommendations: Almekeram - 9/2 with William Hill & Capall Rasa - 10/1 with bet365
3:55pm Newbury - Anyasi & Castle Rock
The 7f handicap is another race I am keen to back two against the field – both unexposed three-year-olds - although there are no prices available at the time of writing.
ANYASI finished third over 7f on racecourse debut at Leicester on his sole juvenile start – staying on - but has been campaigned exclusively over six furlongs so far this term, winning a couple of Novices before staying on one pace on handicap debut. Irrespective of the result today, I am convinced he wants a step up in trip although he was beaten more than 5l at Thirsk where everything seemed to be happening too quickly on his first start in fifty-five days.
CASTLE ROCK was made favourite for his belated reappearance on the July course last month but met trouble in running, went down by half a length in his first-time cheekpieces. He holds an entry in the Balmoral over a mile on Champions Day, and my immediate reaction at Newmarket was that he needed an additional furlong.
Charlie Appleby thinks otherwise, however, although we might not see the selection at his very best until he faces another furlong. He has been raised 2lbs since Newmarket, and Godolphin retain the headgear.
Recommendations: Anyasi - 10/1 with bet365 & Castle Rock - 7/2 with bet365
*Betting odds correct at the time of publication. All odds are subject to changes.
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