Cambridgeshire Handicap Trends 2018

If big-field handicaps on the flat are your thing, then it really doesn’t get much more exciting than Saturday’s bet365 Cambridgeshire Handicap.

This ultra-competitive Heritage Handicap is run over a trip of one mile and one furlong and is the first leg of what’s known as the ‘Autumn Double’ – with the Cesarewitch Handicap, run this year on Saturday 13^th October, being the second leg.

With thirty-five runners to sift through, it’s always a favourite with both backers and layers due to its competitive nature, but there’s also plenty of Cambridgeshire Handicap tips to help whittle down the runners. Including ALL of the last sixteen winners being aged six or younger, while thirteen of the last sixteen successful horses carried 9st 4lbs or less in weight.

You can get more help finding the winner of the Cambridgeshire Handicap on our ITV Tips page

So, to help pin-point the winner of the 2018 Cambridgeshire Handicap we are on-hand with some useful key trends and statistics – use these to find the best profiles of past winners. We hope they help, but if you fancy a horse we’ve not featured below then simply apply these stats to that runner.

• 16 of the last 16 winners were aged six or younger
• 15 of the last 16 winners had won three or more times before
• 13 of the last 16 winners carried 9st 4lbs or less in weight
• 12 of the last 16 winners were aged between four and six years-old
• 12 of the last 16 winners came from a double-figure stall
• 11 of the last 16 winners were placed fifth or better in their last race

Trends – Key Runners

Kynren ✅✅✅✅✅✅

Alfarris ✅✅❌✅✅✅

Danceteria ✅✅✅❌✅✅

Very Talented ✅❌❌✅✅✅

Wissahickon ✅✅❌❌✅✅

Trends Analysis:

Kynren has been popular at the head of the ante-post market for some time and it’s easy to see why. This consistent four-year-old is the only one of the top five in the market to get a clean sweep of ticks on our six trends and barring one blip in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot is generally a horse to rely on running his race. He’s only finished out of the top three once from his nine career starts and is used to these big-field handicaps after running third in the John Smith’s Cup in July. With 9st 3lbs he just creeps into the positive side of our weight trend, while draw twenty-two looks to be another plus with the last two winners coming from stalls in the twenties. Leading jockey, William Buick, is the icing on the cake and he’s also no stranger to winning this handicap after scooping the prize in 2012.
Age: Four, Weight: 9st 3lbs, Drawn: 22

Alfarris is another that punters are sure to latch onto here after seeing a string of firsts and seconds next to his name. From the William Haggas yard, that are still looking for their first success in this race, this four year-old has done all his running over one and a quarter miles this season so we know he’ll stay this one furlong shorter trip. He also heads here off the back of a fine second to another of the runners in this race – Pivoine – and that form looks solid. However, he’s now got has a handy eight-pound weight pull for the two and a half lengths he was adrift of the winner that day, so there should be little between the pair this time. The trends give him a leading chance too, but it is worth pointing out with 9st 7lbs he does fall down on the main weight stat – he’ll be looking to become only the second horse to win this race with more than 9st 4lbs in the last fifteen renewals.
Age: Four, Weight: 9st 7lbs, Drawn: 23

After four wins this season, the winning run of Danceteria came to an end last time out at the Curragh when fifth (or nineteen) in a competitive handicap but was only beaten just over three lengths. With only nine career runs there should also be more to come and he hails from a yard that seem to do well with their young improving handicappers. With 9st 1lbs he gets in with a nice weight, however, it might pay to know he’s still racing off a ten-pound higher mark than his most recent victory. The trends see him tick five of our six, with his age (three) the only potential negative – in the last nineteen renewals we’ve seen just four horses aged three land this prize.
Age: Three, Weight: 9st 1lb, Drawn: 10

Very Talented will be hoping to give the ‘boys in blue’ of Godolphin their first win in this race and after returning from a 700+ break absence to win at Chelmsford last week it didn’t take the layers long to shorten his price. He’s also got history in this race after running a fine third in the 2016 renewal and has clearly had this race as a target for time. The promising Rossa Ryan rides and takes off a handy three pounds from the saddle so even though we’ve given him a negative for the weight trend, this claim means he’ll have 9st 2lbs and a possible thumbs-up. With only two career wins then he does fall down on this trend, plus the dreaded ‘bounce factor’ might also put some people off.  More often than not horses that run well after a long layoff don’t back that up with another good run – we’ll see on Saturday if he’s one of those.
Age: Five, Weight: 9st 5lbs, Drawn: 24

Finally, a decent argument can also be made for Wissahickon, which – in case your interested – is named after a place in Pennsylvania. With Frankie Dettori, in the saddle and coming from the powerful John Gosden yard, then this combination is always a recipe for punter attraction. The stable has also made a habit of targeting this contest, with wins in 1994, 2007 and 2008, while the pocket Italian’s sole success in this race also came on Gosden’s first win in this (Halling). With just six career runs (four wins) then he’s a colt that’s hit the ground running during this early part of his career and heads here full of confidence after an easy win on the All Weather at Chelmsford. The trends, however, see him fall down on two – weight (9st 5lbs) and age (three). Having said that, if you still like his chance then you’d be glad to hear that two of Gosden’s three successes in this race came with three-year-olds!
Age: Three, Weight: 9st 5lbs, Drawn: 21

Every Newmarket race covered live on ITV can be found on our Newmarket Racing Tips page, with runner-by- runner previews for each contest.