ITV Racing Tips: Friday Fancies From Newmarket & Ascot

Guineas weekend is tantalisingly close at Newmarket and the three day festival kicks off with an intriguing Friday card, set to be broadcast live on ITV Racing. Goodwood and Ascot are also having select races shown on a sunny afternoon and Billy Grimshaw makes the case here for his two fancies...

14:55 Newmarket - Betfred "The Classic Bookmaker" Handicap

On what could be a huge weekend given he sends the 2000 Guineas favourite Bow Echo out on Saturday, George Boughey would absolutely love a Friday winner to get things rolling early and I think his favourite for this race LAKE COMO has an outstanding chance. I'd be amazed if this former Ballydoyle representative finished the season anywhere close to the mark of 89 he is running off in this race, given the obvious inconvenience he met last time out at Kempton before flying late to take third behind the very smart King's Trail for Godolphin.

Sent off a 50/1 no-hoper that day I reckon he'd have got second place with a clear run and while in flat racing we know nothing is guaranteed in terms of our picks not hitting traffic problems, backing him at around 4/1 in here and hoping Billy Loughnane finds a clearer passage looks the smart play. A draw in the middle of the track on this hold up horse means his classy rider can pick and choose where he wants to be for most of the race and in which group before asking Lake Como for his effort and I expect a big run before moving onto better things as the turf season unfolds.

Comic Hero with Oisin Murphy booked for Andrew Balding was another hard luck story last time out at Musselburgh and can run off the same mark here, so again if he has a clear run he should be in the mix, while Appleby's Fort Rock has Connor Plannas's 3lbs claim to aid him and could be dangerous off the front end if given too much rope by the rest of the pack drawn high. On what we've seen, I do believe Lake Como is the most talented horse in this field however and I wouldn't be surprised to see him win as a well backed favourite.

15:10 Ascot - Commonwealth Cup Trial

My second selection is a pure price play, with what looks as close to a pick'em as you're likely to see priced up 6/4 vs 10/3. BRUSSELS is way overpriced to land this Commonwealth Cup Trial and simply has to be backed compared to favourite Wise Approach. Both horses I am in no doubt are of the highest class, however far too much is seemingly being made of Wise Approach's adversity stained win in the Middle Park, when he stumbled slightly leaving the gates but still had enough boot to bag the Group 1. Clearly he is above average, but he looked the more precocious two year old in 2025 in comparison to Brussels, who to my eye at least looks the one with more improvement to come now a three year old.

He also has the man who rides Ascot better than anyone else on his back in Ryan Moore, although William Buick is hardly a poor rider on the favourite!  Brussels wrapped up his season with a fantastic half length second over at Del Mar for the Breeders' Cup and the Wootton Bassett colt looks set to take a marked step forward now back in Britain and in his peak season. Wise Approach may well still be the better horse, but I don't think there's much between them and due to his Group 1 win he does have to give Brussels four pounds here. Were the prices more like 5/2 against 2/1 I'd be tempted to make this a watch and enjoy only race, but the discrepancy has forced my hand.