Vertem Futurity big-race verdict: Our tipsters keen to take on the favourite

Logician wins the 2019 St Leger at Doncaster

The final Group 1 of the flat race season in Britain is on Saturday, the Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster. It is part of a bumper day on ITV Racing, one of ten races on a triple header with Cheltenham and Newbury also in action.

A busy day for our horse racing tips will also see selections from Kelso, Galway, Leopardstown and Chelmsford. Let’s get stuck into the big race of the day for now and see what our tipsters fancy to win.

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“He’s the top-rated horse in the race”

A fascinating race, with Derby favourite Luxembourg looking to enhance his reputation. He warrants utmost respect, but I’m surprised Bayside Boy is as big a price as he is and I’ll take full advantage of that.

Roger Varian’s charge has improved with each of his runs thus far and the form has worked out extremely well subsequently. Beaten a head by Masekela in a Newbury Listed race on his second start, he then downed Reach For The Moon and Twilight Jet on his next outing in the Champagne at Doncaster.

Little went his way in the Dewhurst last time. He missed the break and not having the clearest or runs until late on, where he closed into a never-nearer third. This extra furlong will really benefit him and although soft ground would be an unknown, I’d hope it’ll dry up by Saturday afternoon.

He’s the top-rated horse in the race and I’m mystified by his price, as he still should still have improvement under the hood too – Owen Goulding

“He brings the best form to the table”

Hard to disagree with Owen on this one, I’m very much in the Bayside Boy camp as well. Owen has pretty much summed the case up for the horse perfectly. The colt brings the best form to the table and on this occasion I would rather be with the proven level rather than the possibilities that Luxembourg promises.

He wouldn’t have beaten Native Trail in the Dewhurst if he had got a clearer run late in the day. He would’ve been considerably closer, however, and certainly second rather than third. Varian won this race in 2013 with Kingston Hill who ran on the same Newmarket card as this colt. That was the Autumn Stakes though rather than the Dewhurst.

That race saw an impressive winner and the runner-up Imperial Fighter might be the best each way alternative in here for Andrew Balding. Balding won this race in both 2014 and 2019 so he knows what it requires and softer ground will be no concern – Matt Newman

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.