Friday’s horse racing tips and best bets for Newmarket

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.

Join today

Already a member?
Log in

Newmarket tips – October 9, 2026

It’s back to Newmarket for some Friday action at the start of another busy weekend at HQ, with the Dewhurst Stakes to come on Saturday. Here are my four racing tips for Friday, including a four-point NAP.

Newmarket Academy Godolphin Beacon Project Cornwallis Stakes (Group 3) (13.15, Newmarket)

With Hell Of A Spin (who would have been tough to take on) absent, FLANN SUNNA looks the pick to win the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes.

Currently trading as the 5/2 market leader on betting sites, this highly progressive juvenile is perfectly positioned to capitalise on the favourite’s defection. Trained by the adept duo of Simon and Ed Crisford, Flann Sunna already possesses an impressive profile with two victories from just four career starts. William Buick is booked for the mount, his tactical expertise on Newmarket’s tricky Rowley Mile being an immense asset.

The race demands the sort of raw pace the selection has shown is within and that, blended with stamina to handle that famed rising ground, can give the strong-travelling Flann Sunna the edge. Having recently finished a highly respectable third in Group company, he brings the best official rating (104) into the final lineup.

He also has a lovely, raking, fast ground action and although both his wins have come over 6f, he is quick and should be able to run right through the line. Several unexposed types take him on but I expect Buick to sit close to the pace before launching a sustained challenge to see them all off.

Newmarket tip 1: Flann Sunna – 2pts win @ 5/2 (Betfred)

Godolphin Lifetime Care Oh So Sharp Stakes (Group 3) (Fillies) (13.50, Newmarket)

An interesting Group 3 contest where I think there’s a sporting bet at the prices on horse racing betting sites in the form of SEA VENTURE. George Scott’s Sea The Stars filly has improved with each start so far and despite winning just the one of them, on debut at Haydock (6f, good to soft) in May, we are to assume that connections think plenty of her.

That success was certainly decisive and, as a result, she was aimed at the Listed Chesham Stakes (7f, good to firm) at Royal Ascot next time, when she kept on to finish sixth, beaten just over 3L.

That didn’t put connections off another tilt at black type and she recently went off at a ‘fair enough’ 16/1 for the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes, over today’s C&D (good). She sported a first-time tongue-tie that day, and if anything, she raced a bit too freely for her own good, finishing 3½L sixth.

I think there’s more to come from her and, if she can settle better, dropping back to Group 3 could see her finally earn that black type connections seek. In an open contest, there looks to be some value in her price on an each-way basis.

Newmarket tip 2: Sea Venture – 1pt each-way @ 14/1 (bet365)

Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards Challenge Stakes (Group 2) (14.25, Newmarket)

Regulars will know my admiration for FLORA OF BERMUDA, who has done us a few favours before now and I am hoping she can do so again. She’s very likely to head the market on most betting apps for this Group 2 contest but she’s proved her class in spades before now, she goes well at this track and over this trip, so there’s plenty going for her.

She’s already won in Listed and twice in Group 3 company this season, while her latest effort in the Group 2 Park Stakes (7f, good) at Doncaster, when under 2L second to Queen Anne runner-up More Thunder was another excellent effort and not far off her best.

If she can run to that sort of level again, she will take an awful lot of beating in this line-up, with her chief market rivals both conceding weight to her.

Newmarket tip 3: Flora Of Bermuda – 2pts win @ 15/8 (William Hill)

bet365 Fillies’ Mile (Group 1) (14.57, Newmarket)

The bet365 Fillies’ Mile is the feature on day one of a meeting which will also see the Dewhurst Stakes come to the fore on Saturday. The standout selection to win is MUSICAL TIMES.

Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, she stamped herself as a premier juvenile filly with a dominant victory in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster last month, beating Scommessa Sicura by 7½L (1m, good to soft). In the process, she displayed a devastating turn of foot and her win was by the widest margin seen in that trial this century.

If that isn’t impressive enough for you, her runaway Doncaster performance also proved she relishes a mile, while the uphill finish of the Rowley Mile should play right into her hands in terms of both stamina and high-cruising speed.

While Edward Bethell’s Prix d’Aumale winner Rogue Passion and the unbeaten Lex Victoria bring strong form, neither possesses the raw Group 1 gear change that Musical Times showcased on Town Moor and the impression she left there means I can’t take her on this time, no matter how short.

Newmarket tip 4: Musical Times – 4pts win @ 8/15 (bet365)

Responsible gambling

It is important to practice safer gambling online, and regulated bookmakers can help bettors stay in control of their betting through their detailed safer gambling hubs.

As you’ll find on all UKGC licensed gambling sites, there is a range of tools available such as deposit limits, profit and loss calculators, reality checks and self-exclusion options.

If you need to seek help for a gambling problem, there are various charities that can help if you ever feel your gambling has got out of hand:

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.