Ante-post second favourite Caballo De Mar to miss the Northumberland Plate as his trainer targets Middle East prizes

George Scott has warned punters that Jenningsbet Northumberland Plate second favourite Caballo De Mar will not take his chance on Saturday.

His stayer is a best-priced 10-1 for the £150,000 Newcastle handicap – and disputing favouritism with some firms – after finishing second in the Copper Horse Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday. He had also been runner-up in the Chester Cup last month.

His trainer said: "He's not going to run. He deserves a bit of a break as he's been so busy this spring and early summer.

"Sheikh Nasser bought him with the idea that he'd be a horse for the staying races in Dubai and then maybe the Red Sea Handicap in Saudi Arabia, so we'll be working back from the winter with him."

Caballo De Mar has four wins and two second places to show from six runs in 2025, earning nearly £140,000, and Scott said: "You need to be winning those races to be really happy but I was pleased with him at Ascot. He's quite special in how hard he tries and how consistent he is – there aren't many horses like that."

The trainer will instead bid for the Plate with Prydwen, who won on All-Weather Championships finals day at Newcastle last year and finished 12th in the Copper Horse at Ascot.

Prydwen: won at Newcastle last yearCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"We felt he deserved his place at Royal Ascot, but once the draw came out it was evident he had no chance really," said the trainer. "He didn't have an unduly hard race and Newcastle is the plan for him. He's a course-and-distance winner."

Friday evening's £60,000 Gosforth Park Cup has been named in honour of former Levy Board chairman Paul Darling, who died last year.

Darling grew up in the north-east of England and Jenningsbet chief executive Greg Knight said: “Paul’s love of racing, and of racing in the north-east in particular, was well known. He contributed a vast amount to both the sport and the betting industry, and we are proud to see his name associated with the Gosforth Park Cup."

Levy Board chief executive Alan Delmonte added: "Paul is much missed by his colleagues and friends at the Levy Board, and in racing, betting and further afield.

"He was devoted to the sport and to the north-east. Renaming a race at this weekend’s Northumberland Plate meeting is a fitting tribute to him.”

Paul Darling: the former chairman of the Levy Board will be remembered at Newcastle on Friday

It will be a big weekend for Scott, who is looking forward to stepping Bay City Roller up to a mile and a quarter in Sunday's Prix Eugene Adam at Saint-Cloud.

Last year's Champagne Stakes winner lost his unbeaten record when second in the Heron Stakes over a mile at Sandown on his reappearance, but his trainer said: "I was very pleased with him.

"He'd been showing the signs he was ready to step up in trip, but there was nothing for him so we started him at a mile. I think he's going to be much more effective at a mile and a quarter, maybe even a mile and a half one day. 

"This has been the plan since Sandown, Ascot was never an option because of the ground and there being nothing suitable for him there."

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