One of the betting highlights on Saturday afternoon is the Cesarewitch Handicap, as a huge field goes to post for the 2m 2f contest at 3:40pm. We may not have a full field lining up this year, but it’s still a real betting conundrum for punters and our in-house tipster Steve Chambers previews the race here and picks out his 1-2-3.
SEA OF SANDS
(William Buick/Willie Mullins)
Willie Mullins has a fine record in this race have trained three winners in the last six years and the Closutton supremo will unleash the well fancied Sea Of Sands in the 2024 renewal. Very smart on the Flat in Germany, the six-year-old was last seen winning impressively in a Listowel maiden hurdle, where he cruised to a five-length success. This is a whole different ball game, but he could be chucked in off a mark of 97 and could be well clear of the handicapper and sets the standard.
JACOVEC CAVERN
(Hayley Turner/Emmet Mullins)
Down the field in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham in March whilst under the stewardship of Paul Hennessy, Jacovec Cavern is now trained by Emmet Mullins and the Irish handler is looking for back-to-back wins in this race having won it 12 months ago with The Shunter. He ran well on his first start for Mullins at the Galway Festival in July, where he was second off a mark of 80 and 3lbs higher for this contest the five-year-old son of Sixties Icon looks to have the potential to play a notable role here.
SIXANDAHALF
(Robert Whearty/Gavin Cromwell)
A strong Irish contingent is bolstered by Gavin Cromwell’s Sixandahalf, who is one that has notable course form having won a fillies’ handicap over 1m 6f at HQ back in August. That success came off a mark of 82 and she built on that run with an excellent third placed finish in the Irish Cesarewitch at the Curragh. She will have a much tougher task in Saturday’s contest, as she has a rating of 89 now, but she has shown she blossoms in build field events, so is a huge each-way player.
THE FIELD
Plenty line up with big chances and we have the last two winners of the race taking their chance in the shape of Run For Oscar and The Shunter, but both appear to have better days behind them with the former 13lbs higher than his 2022 win, while The Shunter is 5lbs higher than last year and hasn’t been seen on the track for 11 months. Third in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot, Dawn Rising was also fifth in the Irish Cesarewitch last time out, so is another with each-way claims, while Simon & Ed Crisford’s Manxman is an up-and-coming stayer who won at Southwell last time out, but this is a notable step up.
Aidan O’Brien’s Queenstown has disappointed this season and is looking to get his head in front for the first time, but off top weight will face a stern test, while Samui is another at the head of the handicap that may find this too much. Gordon Elliott is bidding for his first win in this race and he will saddle Ndaawi, who was last seen finishing second in the Galway Hurdle and is an eye-catching runner. Third in the Fred Winter at Cheltenham, the four-year-old was a winner on his last start on the level and with Jamie Spencer in the saddle then he could be that is snuck into the race and looks a huge challenger for glory.
VERDICT
A real head-scratcher, the 2024 Cesarewitch Handicap is a thrilling renewal and the one that stands out is NDAAWI, who ran a cracker to finish second in the Galway Hurdle and if he can repeat that run back on the Flat then he looks to have the potential to deliver the goods off a mark of 92. Sixandahalf is a form runner for Gavin Cromwell and looks capable of bagging second place, while Sea Of Sands can complete the first three home.
2024 Cesarewitch Handicap Predicted 1-2-3
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