Favourites oblige throughout the card at Newton Abbot

Punters had the bookies firmly in their grip as three favourites emerged victorious at Friday evening’s meeting, made up of a seven-race card, while the other four winners were well-fancied in their own right too.

Somerset-based trainer Paul Nicholls celebrated a double on the card, with two of his three runners winning in decisive fashion, pushing the handler’s 2025-26 strike rate up to an impressive 44%.

Read below for a full report of the Newton Abbot card, courtesy of BoyleSports, who offer the latest Royal Ascot betting ahead of the showpiece meeting next week.

The evening’s first race saw the first Nicholls horse win under stable jockey Harry Cobden; Seeyouinmydreams won the mares’ two and a quarter mile handicap hurdle, a race consisting of only two runners, 22 lengths ahead of her only opponent and justifying favouritism (5/6). 

In the next mares’ race, a novices’ hurdle race over two miles and one furlong, Dan Skelton trained the 1-2, with his second string - Claim Du Brizais - springing a surprise and beating the favourite Bella Le Grand by just a neck under seven-pound claiming rider Heidi Palin. The Skelton pair of horses had gone 21 lengths clear of the rest, with the third of five horses across the line being the 80/1 Brionywells.

Having had a winning favourite in the first race, Paul Nicholls’ second runner of the evening, Hugos New Horse, was fancied to bring in the double for the Ditcheat team in race three, setting off as 5/4 favourite in a four-runner handicap chase over three miles and two furlongs. In the closing stages, however, he was outstayed by the Mickey Bowen-trained Art Of Diplomacy, who ran on well to win by over five lengths. 

The fourth race - a three and a quarter mile handicap hurdle - brought about another surprise result, as Devon-based trainer Sue Gardner’s Bredon Hill Dart steamed into the lead under a well-timed ride by conditional rider Ciaran O’Shea with a starting price of 11/2. The joint favourites Hammer Dan and Quite The Getaway - both 9/4 - were beaten three quarters of a length and three and a half lengths respectively. 

Favourites were back in business at the conclusion of race five, however, with Paul Nicholls’ third and final runner of the day - Centara - winning the extended two-mile handicap chase under conditional rider Jay Tidball when 9/4 favourite. One of the pair’s main dangers, Olly Murphy’s El Muchacho, pulled up, making the winners’ eventual 11-length win all the more easy. 

Despite another small field of five runners, the penultimate race was a tight contest between the joint favourites Sassified and Hill Station, both jumping off at 15/8 for the two miles and one furlong handicap hurdle. Going much better than their opponents, the market-leading pair went over eight lengths clear of the rest as the JP McManus-owned and blinkered Sassifed got the better of Hill Station, eventually winning by just under two lengths under rider Michael Nolan. 

A 9pm start time was worth the wait for connections of Three Pikes in the finale; a bumper run over two miles and a furlong. While Anthony Honeyball’s experienced gelding Marhaba Prince was our hot favourite at 1/2, expected to make good use of experience gained in a Listed bumper at Cheltenham and a winning debut in December, he failed to pick up well as Henry Oliver’s Three Pikes, a relative of the Grade One winning My Drogo, who ran on well to win at 9/4.