3.15 Newbury tips: Revich ready for Spring Cup

At 15:15, the competitive Spring Cup Handicap takes place at Newbury. Run over the straight mile, this valuable handicap, worth over £36,000 to winning connections, is always an interesting race, and the 2023 renewal is no different.

Low weights do well in the Spring Cup

In recent times, those lower down the weights have thrived in Newbury’s Spring Cup. Last year, Modern News defied the trend, carrying a whopping 9 st, 9lbs to victory, though the year before, Nugget showed that a low weight can definitely help as he carried just 8 st, 9lbs when coming home in front.

Interestingly, only one of the last ten winners of this race has carried more than 9st, 4lbs, while six of the last ten winners have carried less than 9st.

Who catches the eye?

Alrehb is certainly worth mentioning for Kevin Philippart De Foy. The six-year-old is one of the fitter horses in the race having twice raced recently, while he comes here in form having won at both Southwell and Wolverhampton. The form of his Class 2 win last time out gives him a definite chance, though he may need to pull out more after the handicapper applied a 5lb rise.

At sizable odds, I’m drawn to Revich, who ticks several boxes as far as I’m concerned. Plenty of those near the front of the market have thrived in this race in recent times, but it’s not totally unusual for something to win at bigger odds. Chatez scored at 16/1 in 2019, while Banksea won at 9/1 in 2017 having traded at bigger odds before the off.

Richard Spencer’s runner looks well handicapped on the pick of his form and is now back down to his last winning mark. He’s often run well in similar big-field handicaps, while he has posted a few speed ratings in his career that catch the eye in relation to plenty of his competitors in this race. He should also strip fitter than plenty of these having had a relatively encouraging spin at Doncaster three weeks ago. Throw in the fact that he placed in this race from higher in the weights back in 2021 and he starts to look like a more than viable each-way bet.