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Fitzdares Handicap Stakes (Div II) (GBBPlus Race)

17:50 Newbury Fri 18 Sep 2026 1m2f Class 4 Good 9 runners

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Mr Fox’s call

Interstate silks

Interstate

SPECULATIVE Advised 15/8 Est. 35%

🥉 3RD

Mr Fox says

Interstate (SR 95, 15/8) shares the joint-highest SR in the field with Empirical but carries 9-7 — a 1lb weight advantage over Empirical's 9-6, and crucially has the superior connections combination of John & Thady Gosden (24% strike rate) and William Buick (25% strike rate). The form string 02-221 reads as a horse in a progressive upward curve, winning last time out, and the DistFit:+ confirms proven effectiveness at 1m2f. The drop of one class (ClassMv:↓1) and a mark that hasn't moved from the last win (MarkMv:=) mean the handicapper hasn't penalised the victory yet — ideal conditions for a follow-up. The blinkers (HG:b) are presumably retained from the winning run and represent no new risk. Each-way alternative: Dark Whisper. Main danger: Empirical — Empirical (SR 95, 9/4) shares the top SR and has a strong recent form line of -83112 showing three consecutive improving efforts culminating in back-to-back wins, and while the 6% market drift is a mild concern, GoingFit:+ and a proven course placing make it a genuine threat at a price the market still rates second-favourite.

Verify· #18473

Full result

Winner: Empirical (IRE) at SP 9/4. Mr Fox’s picks highlighted in gold.

  1. 1 Empirical silks Empirical Fox #2 Ed Walker · Kieran Shoemark 10/3
  2. 2 Law Court silks Law Court Fox #3 Richard Hannon · Ryan Moore 15/8
  3. 3 Interstate silks Interstate Fox #1 John & Thady Gosden · William Buick 5/2
  4. 4 Double Red silks Double Red Henry Candy · David Probert 16/1
  5. 5 Lucky Luna silks Lucky Luna Richard Hannon · Joe Leavy 22/1
  6. 6 Due To Henry silks Due To Henry Eve Johnson Houghton · Oliver Carmichael(7) 11/1
  7. 7 Military Air silks Military Air Michael Blake · Rossa Ryan 40/1
  8. 8 Sweet Reward silks Sweet Reward Jonathan Portman · Olivia Tubb(5) 14/1
  9. — Dark Whisper silks Dark Whisper Fox #4 David Menuisier · Oisin Murphy -

Top 4 — how each finished

  1. 1 Interstate silks Interstate 15/8 🥉 3RD
  2. 2 Empirical silks Empirical 9/4 SP 9/4 🏆 WON
  3. 3 Law Court silks Law Court 6/1 🥈 2ND
  4. 4 Dark Whisper silks Dark Whisper 15/2