1.50pm Newmarket Tips & Betting Preview 19/04/2017

An interesting six furlong sprint for horses aged four and aboe to start the televised action. The David Barron trained New Bidder (16/1) heads the weights with Oisin Murphy booked to ride. Now a six-year-old, he has won six of his 28 career starts, the latest at The Curragh in September last year. He then finished 17th of 21 to Muntadab at Doncaster when possibly over the top for the season. Although he has won on good ground (once), the majority of his best form comes on softer ground. Despite the fact that he may not get those conditions here, he is officially the best horse in the race and deserves his place in any preview for that reason alone. Sadly, the stable are struggling for winners with none from 11 in the last two weeks and, as things stand, others appeal that little bit more to take this contest.

Looking for recent form, and King Robert (15/2 Each Way) stands out from the crowd for trainer Bryan Smart having won at Wolverhampton in a first timer visor in February. He then followed that with a neck second off a rating three pounds higher. He was unlucky last time after being denied a clear run when needed and with Ben Curtis dropping his whips well. If the visor works again today with Jim Crowley in the saddle he seems sure to put up a very big effort, despite an added three pounds now and seems the one to be on in this competitive event to start the card.

Nigel Tinkler is an intriguing trainer who is hard to catch right, however he can prove very successful when he is on good form. Although with zero winners from four runners in the last two weeks there is very little to go on. Normandy Barriere (6/1) had a good spell as a four-year-old last season, winning at Ascot, Haydock and Doncaster and placing at Pontefract, York and Ascot (twice). A five pound rise for his last win proved too much at York in the Coral Sprint trophy, however he may have just had enough for the season. It will be interesting to see if the son of Rock Of Gibraltar can build again this season and step up on previous efforts.

Trainer Keith Dalgleish will venture south from his South Lanarkshire base with Dark Defender (7/1) who looks to have plenty to find. Having said that, the stable are on excellent form with a 17% strike rate in the last 14 days and a huge 20 point plus level stakes profit in the same period. Andrea Atzeni has been booked to ride the four-year-old who may have more room for improvement than his elder rivals. However, he will need to do much better than his six length ninth last month on his first run since being gelded. Likely to strip fitter for his first effort in five months, he has been dropped a pound to a mark of 85 – which he has won off of before at York – so there is little arguing that he is potentially well handicapped.

Last, but not least, John Butler has entered Toofi (8/1) here and booked Adam Kirby to ride; as a course and distance winner he must have a chance. Despite that being his one and only win from 20 starts and being way back in 2013, the stable are performing well with one recent winner from just the eight runners. He has placed off a handicap mark of 102 so he cannot be disregarded with a rating of 92 today, despite the fact that he has not placed in his last seven races. However, it is worth mentioning that this is only his second start for his new yard.