Northumberland Plate Tips: Chester Cup Winner Can Back Up

One of the big staying handicaps of the season comes to our screens on Saturday up at Newcastle as the ITV Racing cameras are in town for the Northumberland Plate. As is always the case, the race looks competitive and a case can be made for a multitude. Billy Grimshaw has cast his eye over the field and come down on one as a rock solid each-way proposition...

I'm backing ZOFFEE to add the Northumberland Plate to his CV which is now bolstered by his last start, a win in the Chester Cup. The obvious drawback is the connections the horse represents, Hugo Palmer and Manor House Stud who will have had the Chester Cup as their long term plan and they executed it perfectly, thanks in no small part to a cracking ride from young Harry Davies.

This could well be an example of after the lord mayor's show, however assuming the horse is still in as rude health as he was that day on the Roodee he surely has an outstanding each-way chance in a race like this off just a four pound higher mark. It was hands and heels stuff from Davies at Chester once he got his horse into the prime position and although now looking back it is clear 8 stone 6 was a featherweight for a horse of this class to carry around in that prestigious handicap, I'm not sure 8 stone 10 will trouble him too much in the North East either.

He is no spring chicken at eight but has certainly shown revitalised form in the limited evidence we have since switching from Olly Murphy to Huge Palmer and after a brief look through the last few renewals of this race, I'm confident his draw in 13 and his versatile running style will mean Davies can keep him in the prime position to strike up the Newcastle run in.

A return to the tapeta will hold no fears for the horse or connections as he is a course winner in the past, and although there are plenty of rivals in here who have a chance I can't see many as well weighted and in as good form as Zoffee. He rates one of my strongest each-way plays - especially with BetMGM paying extra places - in some time. A horse who probably is just as well weighted is the favourite for Sir Mark Prescott and Hollie Doyle, Trooper Bisdee.

He won in the style of a horse with absolutely tonnes in hand last time out and he comes here hat-trick hunting for a team who certainly know how to plot one out for a big handicap. Hollie Doyle was of course in the plate when one of the greatest winners ever of the Northumberland Plate in Trueshan stormed to glory two years ago handing bundles of weight and a beating to his rivals, so she is no stranger to glory in this race and the favourite is predictably the one I'd fear most.

A host more in the race rate as decent value, not least Forza Orta who came sixth behind Zoffee at Chester after a typically luckless Chester Cup run following a poor draw. He did well to finish as close as he did and could outrun odds of 25/1, while Spirit Mixer caught my eye when third last time out at Goodwood for Andrew Balding and if sparking back to life could make the quotes of 33/1 about him look pretty foolish come 15:30 on Saturday.