Newnham Gang Tackles Feature Race

Mark Newnham
Trainer Mark Newnham has a strong hand in the January Cup.

The in-form Mark Newnham stable will gang tackle the January Cup with three runners as he hopes to continue his stable’s excellent form over the summer period.

The Newnham stable has been in a purple patch of form with 14 winners from his last 50 starters and he has also dominated recent feature summer races in Sydney.

Heading Newnham’s summer success has been the under-rated grey mare Greysful Glamour who boasted back-to-back wins in the Listed ATC Cup and Group Two Villiers Stakes.

His promising imported galloper Spirit Ridge also captured the Group Three Summer Cup over 2000 metres at Randwick at his last start.

Spirit Ridge has the opportunity to also make it two feature summer wins as he heads Newnham’s attack on the Listed January Cup over 2000 metres at Randwick on Saturday.

Newnham also will be represented by Gone Bye and Fulmina and he said they also have strong claims.

TAB fixed odds markets reflect Newnham’s strong hand in the race as Spirit Ridge is a $3.30 favourite, Fulmina at $5.50 and Gone Bye at $8.

“It’s really nice to have all three runners in the market for a black type race like this,” Newnham said.

“We’ve had a great run though the Christmas period and I hope we can keep the ball rolling on Saturday.”

The English import Spirit Ridge has had four starts for the stable, producing two wins and two seconds in quality company.

“He’s a promising horse. We’ve had a good opinion of him from the time he arrived here,” Newnham said.

“We’ll most likely just give him this run on Saturday, and then give him a short break before heading into the autumn.”

Newnham will also be represented by the consistent Gone Bye, another who has delivered two wins and two seconds from his past four outings.

“He’s a good horse for the stable, you can send him around knowing he’ll generally run in the top three,” Newnham said.

“He goes on wet or dry tracks, gets on pace, and is hard to get past. Depending on the make-up of the pace in the race, he should do the same on Saturday.”

Newnham doesn’t dismiss the chances of the Snitzel mare Fulmina, as he is confident the wider spaces of the Randwick circuit will benefit the four-year-old.

“She’s finally getting to her right distance now, she found Gosford a bit short and sharp the other day,” Newnham said.

“She does her best on the bigger tracks. She’s fourth up, going well and down in the weights.”

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