ITV Outsiders: Owen bids to follow up 18-1 winner with 1733-1 double

Thursday promises to be a treat, as Newmarket kicks off its July Festival. There are four pattern races, including the Group 3 July and Princess Of Wales’s Stakes, both live on ITV3. We’ll have ITV Racing tips for all five Thursday races, but I’m hoping to build on an 18-1 winner from Tuesday.

Exchequer provided me with a super start to the week at prohibitive odds and there’s plenty of opportunities on Thursday to build on that. I’ve found two horses who I believe can out-run their odds and they can be found below!

2.25 Newmarket – Tattersalls July Stakes

This is a very competitive renewal of the July Stakes and I’m surprised to see SAM MAXIMUS (33-1) at such a huge price. Trained by Tom Dascombe, he made a winning debut at Haydock in June, defeating a useful field despite doing plenty wrong.

Conceding a penalty at Pontefract in the Spindrifter last time, he never had a chance to show his true ability. He was caught in a pocket throughout the straight and didn’t find a gap until the race was over. That effort was far more encouraging than the bare figures suggest, with the winner looking a useful prospect.

Improvement is certainly needed now he steps into Group 2 company, but it should be forthcoming. He should be granted a strong pace to chase and given his connections, he’s likely to keep progressing with each racecourse visit. At odds of 33-1, he looks to have been severely underestimated.

3.00 Newmarket – Each Way Extra At bet365 Handicap

Winning three of his four opening starts, I don’t think it’s fair to give up on SEVEN BROTHERS (50-1) just yet. Kevin Ryan’s charge won his opening two starts as a juvenile, with his sole two-year-old defeat coming in a Group 2 at York.

He made a winning seasonal/handicap debut at York in April, toughing things out to beat Popmaster, but he’s come up short in two subsequent big-field events at Newmarket and York. Those runs were disappointing, but he missed the break on both occasions and lost all chance as a result.

Much of his chance depends on the start and he must break better today to play a leading chance. There can be plenty of hope he’ll do just that, however. The fitting of the blinkers should help his concentration and he’s also drawn stall one. Off just a pound higher than his York mark, he could easily play a leading role at 50s.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.