Hargreaves Services PLC Handicap Stakes

14:44 Newmarket (July) Sat 22 Aug 2026 1m Class 5 Good to Firm 8 runners

Mr Fox’s call

Guest House

SPECULATIVE Advised 5/2 Est. 32%

🏁 4TH

Mr Fox says

Guest House holds the highest SR in the field at 83 — a meaningful edge over Royal Bodyguard (SR 75) and Khuskhas (SR 76) — and that ability is backed by a recent last-time-out win in his Form:-14731 sequence, confirming peak form heading into today. He is proven at the mile trip (DistFit:+) and handles good to firm going (GoingFit:+), exactly today's conditions. Silvestre De Sousa's booking (13% career SR, 887 runners of experience) is the strongest jockey pairing in the field, and the market has shortened 11% since opening, reflecting stable confidence. The class rise (ClassMv:↑1) and a mark 6lb higher than his last win (MarkMv:+6) are the two genuine concerns, but his SR superiority and last-run form suggest the handicapper has not yet fully caught up with him. Each-way alternative: Royal Bodyguard. Main danger: Royal Bodyguard — Royal Bodyguard (SR 75, 4/1) carries the lightest competitive weight at 9-7, is proven at course and distance (Course:W0P1, DistFit:+, GoingFit:+), has tightened 7% in the market with Pat Dobbs — a 16% strike-rate jockey — booked, and his same-class assignment means no step up in grade to navigate.

Verify· #13710

Full result

Winner: Royal Bodyguard (IRE) at SP 11/4. Mr Fox’s picks highlighted in gold.

1 Royal Bodyguard Fox #2 Michael Bell · Pat Dobbs 10/3
2 Khuskhas Fox #3 Tom Clover · Robert Havlin 7/2
3 Karakula Dancer Martin Dunne · Alice Bond(5) 11/1
4 Guest House Fox #1 George Margarson · Silvestre De Sousa 2/1
5 Forever Endless Kevin & Lauren Frost · Joe Leavy 10/1
6 Napolian David O'Meara · Conor Whiteley(5) 11/2
7 La Mariposa P Charalambous & J Clutterbuck · George Wood 33/1
— Aerial Silk David Menuisier · Dylan Hogan 8/1

Top 4 — how each finished

1 Guest House 5/2 🏁 4TH
2 Royal Bodyguard 4/1 SP 11/4 🏆 WON
3 Khuskhas 5/1 🥈 2ND