Saturday's card at Newcastle is built around the Northumberland Plate, but the race that sits alongside it, the Northumberland Vase, is well worth a look in its own right. It is the consolation handicap for the horses who did not make the cut for the Plate, run over the same marathon trip on the Tapeta, and two runners caught my eye straight away, both with strong previous form in races of exactly this type.
Alphonse Le Grande (11/1)
Alphonse Le Grande won this very race back in 2024 off a mark of 81, and he did it with real authority as the 3/1 favourite under Hollie Doyle. He went on to win the Cesarewitch at Newmarket that October off a 6lb-higher mark of 87, which is the exact mark he returns to run off here. So he is a course-and-distance winner of this contest off just 6lb lower, and a Cesarewitch winner off today's mark.
He has not been at his best since returning this year, with a flat effort in the Chester Cup among his runs, but the Chester Cup and the Northumberland Vase are very different races, and this looks like the first time in a while he has had a contest set up to suit him. Even last season he was far from disgraced off much bigger marks: eighth in the Ascot Stakes beaten around three lengths off 93, and eighth in the Cesarewitch off 93. He is now back down to 87, 6lb lower and back on the all-weather, the conditions that have brought out his very best.
Better still, Sam Coen takes 5lb off, so he is effectively racing off 82, just 1lb higher than when he bolted up in this race as the 3/1 favourite in June 2024. At 11/1, that looks a real chance.
Charging Thunder (20/1)
The second one I keep coming back to is Charging Thunder for James Owen, and he is another who gets valuable help in the saddle: Mason Paetel takes 5lb off, bringing an official mark of 88 down to an effective 83.
This time last year he lined up in the Northumberland Plate itself, the senior version of the race, off a mark of 91 and ran a cracker to finish third. He backed that up with a couple of good runs, including a win over 1m6f at Wolverhampton under this same jockey, so we know the partnership works and we know he handles these staying handicaps off competitive marks.
His recent prep reads fine: a respectable 1m6f run at Newmarket and then a quiet spin over hurdles just over a month ago, which had every look of a fitness exercise rather than a serious crack at the job. He did disappoint in the Marathon Handicap back in April, but that was off 93. Down to 88, with another 5lb coming off, he is effectively racing off 83, and at 20/1 he looks a tempting each-way play.
Two former big-race performers, both dropping to attractive marks with useful claims taken off, in a race that finally sets up to suit. They are the two to be with in the Northumberland Vase.