Racing League Week 5 Review
Newcastle
There’s really only one place to start a review of this week’s Racing League action and that is with the winner of Race 31, Bragbor. Trained by George Scott, he won this competitive 10-furlong handicap on just his 3rd career start, producing a winning time of 2:12.13, which was 0.76s faster than the TPD expected time for the grade. Settled behind the pace by Richard Kingscote, who was having his final ride in the Racing League this year and who looks to have the individual Jockeys title sewn up with a week to go, Bragbor made his challenge with 2-furlongs to run and despite the close attentions of the runner-up in the final 100 yards, he was always doing enough. The best run-out speed in the field (36.17 mph) confirmed the visual impression that he had more in the tank if needed and this 4-year-old son of Saxon Warrior was the most progressive winner on the night. Given that he didn’t make his debut until January this year, he’s clearly not been the most straight forward horse to train, but he has made a mockery of an opening handicap mark of 80 on Thursday evening and should continue to progress. He beat the 93-rated Sovereign Sea on debut in January and so there was a fair chance that this was a lenient opening mark, but Richard Kingscote reported that he was “still slightly immature, slower from the stalls than he would like to have been”, a fact backed up by the fact that he ranked 5th for the time to reach 30 mph (7.2s) despite a low draw. If there is more improvement to come, which seems highly likely after only 3 starts, then he is one of the key horses to follow in the months ahead from this year’s Racing League. His victory also helped to extend the lead for Matt Chapman’s London and the South team, who look to be in an unassailable position going into the final meeting at Southwell next week.
It hasn’t been the easiest year for Mick Quinn and his North team, who found themselves bottom of the table coming into their home fixture. However, with the Joker card played for the 5-furlong handicap, they had something to cheer as Northern Spirit went one better than in this race 12-months ago to run out a relatively comfortable winner. This was a 7th career success for Brian Ellison’s charge and a 3rd at Newcastle as Northern Spirit overcame a low draw to win by three-quarters of a length. This was a well judged ride by Ben Robinson, whose mount ranked 7th for top speed (42.26 mph) and 8th for run-out speed (34.09 mph). Helped by having his teammate to track (3rd placed South Parade), Northern Spirit burst through with the fastest penultimate furlong in the field to hit the front and hold the runner-up, Pixie Diva, who had enjoyed the run of the race on the stands side. Earning some crucial points for the North team, this has clearly been the plan for some time for Northern Spirit and his CV would suggest that he is far from guaranteed to back this up. However, he is becoming a stalwart of this particular fixture and winning time that was 0.39s faster than the TPD expected time for the grade would suggest that this form can be trusted.
The night ended with a 2nd Racing League victory of 2025 for Ollie Sangster’s Tuco Salamanca. He was a winner on the opening night at Yarmouth for Team Ireland and defied a 5 lb rise in the weights to win Race 35 with some authority. This was a well judged ride by Cieren Fallon, who weaved his way through the field before asking his mount to quicken in the closing stages. A winning time of 1:11.72 was slower than last year’s winner (Heathcliff, 1:11.54), but it was still 1.09s faster than the TPD expected time for the grade and a finishing speed of 98% does confirm the visual impression that the early pace was quick. However, even allowing for that, Tuco Salamanca won this race with something in hand and ran the fastest final 2-furlongs in the field under a relatively comfortable ride from Fallon. He has certainly played his part for Mick Fitzgerald and Team Ireland in this year’s Racing League, but he is a highly progressive 3-year-old, who has been on an almost continuous upward curve this year and even with another rise in the weights for this success, he may not have reached his peak.