ITV Racing Tips: Best Saturday Bets For Newmarket, Ascot & York

The UK heatwave is back with a bang, and the action on track is just as hot as one of the best Saturdays of the summer takes place, live on ITV Racing. Newmarket's July Festival concludes, Ascot hosts a fun looking card and the John Smiths sponsored slate at York also takes centre stage. Billy Grimshaw has a best bet at each track.

14:27 Ascot - Summer Mile

The weather will be exactly as you'd expect for a race named the Summer Mile at Ascot - scorching! A fantastic field has also assembled which is a bonus for a race which can sometimes lack a bit of star power, and although he let me down at Royal Ascot and kicked things off in the worst possible way with his Queen Anne flop, I am willing to chance DOCKLANDS once more at the track he is synonymous with.

He does have to beat the horse who finished second that day, More Thunder, who only found 50/1 shock winner Ten Bob Tony too good.  I am taking a strong opinion to form my bets, as we so often have to do in this game, and that strong opinion is that the Queen Anne of 2026 was a piece of form worth very little indeed. Ten Bob Tony got his day in the sun, but almost everything in behind disappointed so I am not willing to take it as gospel that More Thunder is the second best older miler - especially at Ascot - this season. Docklands' win in the Queen Anne of 2025 is still the best bit of form in here and while we do have to forgive him this year's race, everyone has off days and 6/1 is a massive each-way price.

Karl Burke has forgotten more about racing than I'll ever know, but I am surprised to see his Queen Anne third Zeus Olympios attempting to tackle a mile once more, on even faster ground too, given h looked a horse crying out for further last time out. I really like this lad and will be backing him when and if he takes up a ten furlong assignment, but think he'll once again be done for speed by More Thunder here and (hopefully) a back to form Docklands.

I may have a few forecasts and tricasts involving Docklands and some of the outsiders, as I am happy to forgive Jonquil his Lockinge flop at the prices given his Ascot form and also just love Seagulls Eleven as a horse; a proper model of consistency. Even Holloway Boy could bounce back given he has Ascot form, albeit he stank the place out last time out and does need to bag the lead.

15:45 York - John Smiths Cup

This is a phenomenal weekend of action for those who love racing, but I must confess I think it's one of the trickiest for punters of the whole year. It's great to see such big fields on the flat - wouldn't the jumps boys love such a luxury - but with the maximum of 22 in here, I am advising you tread lightly regardless of if you back my fancy or have one of your own. There is a case to be made for all the market principles, with Warrant Holder probably the right favourite as his C&D win here two months back was blatantly a strong piece of form and he did his claims no harm in running a stormer for second at Royal Ascot.

He beat Thunder Run that day in May here, who subsequently flopped at Ascot and needs to bounce back but certainly has the ability to do so, but a few lengths further back in fifth was HAVE SECRET for the Fahey team and is a huge price for this contest. In similar fashion to Thunder Run, he bombed out next time - with his assignment at Epsom not Ascot - however, any horse can be forgiven a bad run at Epsom and I do not think he should be five times or bigger the price of the aforementioned duo who were ahead of him last time the trio collided here. He gets a weight swing with both here, has a high draw which I actually think will be advantageous looking at the pace map for this race (all the speedballs are drawn high) and put in almost a career best earlier this season at Pontefract to win by two lengths.

He is more exposed than most in here and was stuffed in this race last year off a one pound lower mark, albeit he was switched all over the track which won't have helped his cause, but we are getting a huge price about him to counteract those negatives and with six places available for each-way backers, he'll be carrying a small amount of my cash.

16:35 Newmarket - July Cup

Venetian Sun was many people's Royal Ascot NAP and duly obliged, albeit she was perhaps not as impressive as many had expected. She is a horse I've always been sweet on and is availablle to back at a much bigger price here than she was in the Commonwealth Cup, however I am ditching her for now as I want to see a real wow performance from her to convince me she has not hit her ceiling. It feels silly to be putting a lid on a three year old filly in mid July, and I am by no means discounting her from the reckoning here, but others make more appeal at bigger odds.

Japanese raider Satono Reve was a hearbreaking second for the second year in succession in the King Charles at the Royal Meeting and probably does set the standard in here,  but is stepping into the unknown having a second run overseas and for all he could blow this field away, I am not keen on taking 4/1 to find out if he'll bounce or not. The horse in here that made the biggest impression on me at Royal Ascot was actually MISSION CENTRAL for team Ballydoyle and he'll be the one carrying my cash under Ryan Moore. He was doing all his best work late over five and now faces up to a fair six furlongs, a trip which should suit him down to the ground. Speaking of ground, he'll handle this quick surface no bother which is not something you can say about the favourite.

Double Rush has been a revelation since joining Andrew Balding and could make his mark stepping up from handicaps to this top table, particularly with bundles of fast ground form, so he was on the shortlist along with Division, who finished behind Venetian Sun in the Commonwealth but was caught out a bit when the pace quickened and stayed on powerfully once the penny dropped. He may well reverse that form.