Newcastle is pretty far away from Harry Charlton’s Wiltshire base so he’s been conservative with the number of runners he sends there. The grand total so far this season is nine and four of those have won, giving him a very healthy strike-rate of 44 per cent. He sends just the one on Thursday and the horse in question is a thoroughly unexposed handicapper with a big chance. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Machete Beach is the only three-year-old amongst the field of eight and receives a 6lb allowance as a result. Harry Charlton’s thoroughly unexposed gelding has had just three runs to date and only one of those has come in handicaps.
He managed to win his first two starts by narrow margins and those successes left the impression that he was saving a bit for himself. With that in mind, there could be loads more in the tank and it would be dangerous to rule him out here.
Second on handicap debut at Kempton when last seen, he bumped into an impressive winner but he himself was well clear of the third. The handicapper has decided to leave his mark alone and a similar effort could be enough. Appier and Saratoga Gold are the biggest threats according to the market but they’re pretty exposed at this point.
It appears to only be a matter of time until he gets his head in front in handicap company and the son of Territories is well set to go close here. Connections won’t want to go home empty-handed and they’ll be looking for some prize money, which will makes the long journey north worthwhile.
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