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Two very different types of Derby top the bill this weekend.

On Sunday, Auguste Rodin will be bidding to follow up his Epsom victory in the Irish Derby (Curragh, 15:40), which is live on ITV along with Uttoxeter and one of my favourite jumps tracks in Cartmel.

With successes already for King of Steel and Waipiro, the Epsom form is looking solid, and it will be a major surprise if Auguste Rodin doesn’t confirm the placings with White Birch and Sprewell, setting up clashes with his elders in the likes of the King George and Juddmonte International.

NEWCASTLE AND NEWMARKET

The ‘Pitmen’s Derby’ tag is rarely now applied to the Northumberland Plate, which is run a day earlier on Saturday (Newcastle, 14:05) but it makes a far more interesting betting puzzle.

After a good run at Royal Ascot and his excellent record in the major staying handicaps, I will stick with CALLING THE WIND each-way. Zoffee rates as the main danger after his victory in the consolation race last year.

There is usually a cracking atmosphere on Plate Day and the 1999 duel between Far Cry and Travelmate remains one of my favourite finishes that I have ever called, simply due to the sheer noise of the crowd through the last two furlongs.

There is an early start to proceedings on Saturday and, in the opener at Newcastle (12:20), RAATEA can repeat his success of 12 months ago.

This is always likely to have been a major target for Julie Camacho’s charge, who won in first-time cheekpieces at Haydock last time. That does put him off a higher mark than last season but the stable are flying at present and a rise of just 3lb for that win doesn’t look overly harsh.

PHANTOM FLIGHT warrants a bet at anything over 5-1 in a race (Newmarket, 13:15) where there are a few question marks over the principals.

Al Aasy is the class horse but is not always that hearty in a finish and has not been seen in over a year. New London has proved very progressive and beat Phantom Flight on similar terms last season, but Charlie Appleby’s yard have not been firing over the last couple of weeks. Phantom Flight is quite a big unit and a return to Newmarket should suit him better than Goodwood did last time out.

NIARBYL BAY (Newmarket, 16:10) comes from a race at Bath that has worked out particularly strongly with three next-time-out winners and three others making the frame. The run could have been better than it looked at the time and the stable have already nearly matched their number of winners from a very quiet campaign last season.

JOCKEYS FOR COURSES

As usual, here’s a list of riders heading to tracks on Saturday where they historically have a very good record:

  • Chester – Tadhg O’Shea (actual/expected ratio = 1.61)
    • This is first visit for a while for the multiple Dubai champion jockey who last rode here in 2017
  • Doncaster – Dane O’Neill (A/E = 1.28)
  • Newcastle – Ben Curtis (A/E = 1.21)
  • Windsor – Kevin Stott (5 winners from 15 rides)
    • Still a small sample size, but riding away from the main action has produced a good book of mounts

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

ETOILE D’ALEXANDRE  (Chester, 13:57) will have to break well from stall eight but showed enough at York on debut to suggest that she can win a race or two. Declan Carroll is one of my favourite trainers to follow when the yard hits form (they have two wins already this week) and is also an underrated trainer of two-year-olds.

SATURDAY SELECTIONS:

RAATEA (Newcastle, 12:20)

PHANTOM FLIGHT (Newmarket, 13:15)

ETOILE D’ALEXANDRE  (Chester, 13:57)

CALLING THE WIND (Newcastle, 14:05)

NIARBYL BAY (Newmarket, 16:10)