The quirks of the racing calendar have nudged Newcastles Northumberland Plate into the first day of July and there cannot be a better way to begin the months racing. Few staying handicaps are as fiercely contested as the Pitmens Derby and this years race is no exception to that familiar rule.
Anyone thinking of having a bet in this grueling two-mile contest needs to pay strict attention to the draw. Year after year horses drawn high race wide at Gosforth Park struggling to secure a prominent early pitch with the result that they are forced to sit and wait at the back of the field while the race unfolds up front. More often than not, the die has been cast by the time a high drawn horse is able to make its belated challenge.
Older horses too tend to rule the roost these days and the times when progressive three-year-olds were able to annex this valuable prize have long gone. The doughty Archduke Ferdinand was the last of the younger generation to win the Plate in 2001 and remarkably, there are no representatives from this age-group in this years renewal.
Good recent form is an obvious plus in a race of this nature and Richard Faheys Greenwich Meantime and...
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