2025 Newmarket Craven Meeting Wednesday Tips

A dreaded blank on Tuesday. Probe was never put into the race, watch out for him in the coming weeks. The Last Galileo didn’t handle the soft ground and the same sentiment applied to Biniorella Bay. Hopefully we can turn the ship around on Wednesday, my 2025 Newmarket Craven Meeting Wednesday tips are blow.

1.50 – Bet365 Handicap (Class 2)

Many two year olds, especially sprinters, do not improve as they get older and that makes these early 3yo races very tricky to unpick. The one I’ll take a chance on at around 11/1 is the Hello Youmzain colt Gallant.

Trained by in form Andrew Balding, this horse has had a pipe opener on the AW when finishing 5.5l behind Diablo Rojo, a horse we backed last weekend in the Greenham Stakes. Gallant raced a bit keenly that day and it looked as though he’d come on plenty for the run.

He won a novice at Kempton last year, beating the now 95 rated West Acre by almost 2l. The third home is also now rated in the 90s so it was a pretty impressive performance. Gallant’s sole turf start came on debut at Salisbury and he was well beaten in fifth but the ground was good to firm that day.

His half-siblings Straight Right and Stone Roses showed their best turf form on ground with cut in it and his sire won a Group 1 on soft so I am hoping he’ll relish the rain-softened turf at Newmarket on Wednesday. At odds of 11/1, hopefully Gallant can sneak into the frame.

2025 Newmarket Craven Meeting Wednesday Tip: Gallant e/w @ 11/1 (4 places)

2.25 – Wood Ditton Maiden Stakes (Class 2)

An even bigger guessing game than the opener. This is a maiden for 3yos that have never run so similar to the Brocklesby, I’ll be trying to find one that might run well based mostly on breeding. The current fav, Altareq, is by the mighty Frankel and out of a half-sister to Awtaad so he certainly makes plenty of appeal on paper.

At bigger odds, High Stock has a really interesting page. Andrew Balding’s colt is by Dubawi, who needs no introduction. His unraced dam, Prosperine, is by the Japanese sire Hat Trick and she is a half sister to That Which Is Not (dam of stakes winners Yosemite Valley and Pid Bazile), Eccentricity (dam of stakes placed Alder & Radiantly), Flare Of Firelight (dam of G2 winner Threat) and Tymore (dam of G2 winner L’Astronome).

This suggests that while Prosperine hasn’t yet produced a top horse, there is every chance that she might and using Dubawi has surely increased her prospects of producing a good animal. At odds of 12/1, hopefully High Stock is the one.

2025 Newmarket Craven Meeting Wednesday Tip: High Stock e/w @ 12/1

3.00 – Abernant Stakes (Group 3)

Our old mate Run To Freedom makes a long awaited return to the track in this 6f Group 3. He only ran once last season so he must have suffered some sort of setback. Hopefully he retains all his ability and shows up nicely here but I’ll hold off on backing him today as there is a good chance he’ll need this run.

The fav Romantic Style will probably be hard to beat here but the likes of Sajir will enjoy the soft ground too so it isn’t a foregone conclusion. However, with just seven runners and two places on offer, his is a race I’ll be swerving. If Run To Freedom runs a nice race, that’ll do for me.

2025 Newmarket Craven Meeting Wednesday Tip: No bet

3.35 – Craven Stakes (Group 3)

We found Haatem at 16/1 in last year’s Craven Stakes, hopefully we can repeat the trick. Wimbledon Hawkeye has been very well backed after the rain. We almost landed a big win with this horse in the Acomb last year at York but we had to settle for the place money in second behind The Lion In Winter. Soft ground is fine for this son of Kameko, who is reportedly being trained with a tilt at the Epsom Derby in mind.

He looked like a mile was plenty sharp enough for him in the Futurity last year so he might already need further. The next two in the betting have to prove they handle easy ground and Field Of Gold is another one who has done his winning on a sounder surface than he’ll encounter here.

The most interesting one at a price is The Waco Kid. Trained by Hugo Palmer, this horse won his novice on fast ground at Newbury but his career best performance came on his sole start on soft and it came last September at this venue over 7f in the G3 Tattersalls Stakes.

He’s by Mehmas, who is a big speed influence, but his dam is by Galileo and she’s a half-sister to Kameko, so a mile should be well within his compass. You can put a line through his last run in the Breeders’ Cup as the ground was firm and the tight, turning track may not have been to his liking.

This test should suit him much better, he’ll love the ground and we know he likes the undulations of Newmarket. With a rating of 109 he won’t have to improve that much to hit the frame here and at odds of 25/1, The Waco Kid is worth backing e/w.

2025 Newmarket Craven Meeting Wednesday Tip: The Waco Kid e/w @ 25/1 NAP

-DaveStevos