Godolphin’s Group 1 winning filly In Secret is tipped to beat home the older horses when she returns to Flemington as favourite in Saturday’s Newmarket Handicap 2023.

The smart three-year-old enjoyed a stellar spring last time in that culminated with success down the famous ‘Straight Six’ at headquarters when she took out the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) by two lengths.

In Secret is back at the track third-up and fit this weekend taking on some of the country’s best sprinters in an exciting edition of the Group 1 $1.5 million Newmarket Handicap (1200m).

The bonny daughter of I Am Invincible sits top of the latest Newmarket Handicap odds online at $4.20 through Ladbrokes.com.au after two strong lead-up runs in Sydney.

Fresh she won Randwick’s Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) before going down by the barest of margins to Sunshine In Paris in the Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) a fortnight ago.

Down from 56kg in those fillies’ only races she is a genuine light-weight chance with only 51.5kg in the Newmarket Handicap weights.

In Secret is a proven Group 1 winner at the track and distance, gets a gun run from gate eight and has the in-form Ms Jamie Kah in the saddle making her a hard to beat favourite.

Sunlight (2019) was the last three-year-old filly to win the Newmarket and the first since Alinghi back in 2005.

Occupying the second line of Newmarket Handicap betting at $4.60 is Peter Moody’s one-time favourite I Wish I Win.

The spring’s $10 million Golden Eagle winning four-year-old has eased out slightly in the markets to claim the Newmarket second-up after drawing out wide in gate 14 for jockey Luke Nolen.

The consistent son of Savabeel brings an excellent record over the 1200m into Saturday’s feature boasting two wins and two seconds from his four previous runs at the distance.

He resumed making his Flemington debut on February 18 in the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) carrying 58.5kg to a brave second when only a quarter-length off the winning filly Coolangatta.

The step-up to 1200m is ideal and he is a genuine chance back to 56.5kg here with a run at HQ now under his belt to further boost his chances.

A further two runners are also under $10 for the win with the Joe Pride-trained top-weight Private Eye ($7) carrying 58kg from a gun gate two draw and the Julius Sandhu-trained Lofty Strike ($9) wider out in gate 12.

Al Maher five-year-old Private Eye gets his autumn underway and looks a strong hope fresh.

Last October he defeated the reigning Newmarket Handicap champion Roch ‘N’ Horse home by over two lengths here in the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m).

From there he went back to Sydney and was narrowly denied success in the world’s richest turf race when runner-up to Giga Kick in the $15 million The Everest (1200m).

Private Eye atoned with a consolation win in the $3 million Nature Strip Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill before an unplaced seventh, albeit just two lengths off Alligator Blood, in Flemington’s Group 1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m).

Alligator Blood franked that form with a Futurity win first-up, and there is money on Private Eye to do something similar on the back of two good trials in February.

Lofty Strike is another strong hope at the other end of the weight scale getting in on just 52.5kg.

The three-year-old Snitzel colt ran fourth to In Secret here in the Coolmore last year before running seventh in a blanket finish when just a length off Roch ‘N’ Horse in the Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) at 60/1.

He presents fit with two strong Sandown performances last month having won the Group 2 Rubiton Stakes (1100m) first-up before a lead-up second in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m).

Roch ‘N’ Horse meanwhile is rated a $26 to go back-to-back and become the first dual Newmarket Handicap champion since Redkirk Warrior (2017-18).

Michael Moroney’s six-year-old mare is a genuine Flemington straight track specialist (4:2-2-0).

She resumed when four lengths back 10^th in the Oakleigh Plate, but should improve sharply second-up returning to her preferred track and distance coming back from 58kg to 55.5kg.

The Newmarket Handicap 2023 is set to run as Flemington Race 7 at 4:20pm (AEDT) on Saturday with full markets from Ladbrokes.com.au available by clicking here.

2023 Newmarket Handicap Final Field & Barrier Draw

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	5082x1217x	PRIVATE EYE	Joseph Pride	Brenton Avdulla	2	58kg		115
2	1111x5232x	MAZU	Peter & Paul Snowden	Sam Clipperton	16	57kg		113
3	123x1151x2	I WISH I WIN (NZ)	Peter G Moody	Luke Nolen	14	56.5kg		112
4	210x4221x0	ROCH ’N’ HORSE (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Jamie Mott	3	55.5kg		114
5	8815x133x7	BALLER	Tony Gollan	Blake Shinn	13	55kg		109
6	155x1219x3	BELLA NIPOTINA	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Craig Williams	1	54.5kg		112
7	x3135x84x4	SEPTEMBER RUN	Chris Waller	Jye McNeil	11	54kg		111
8	x6463681x0	THE ASTROLOGIST	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damian Lane	15	54kg		107
9	11x347x12	LOFTY STRIKE	Julius Sandhu	Craig Newitt	12	52.5kg		109
10	x111310x38	CHAIN OF LIGHTNING	Peter G Moody	Ms Linda Meech	6	52kg		104
11	02x104x10x	FRONT PAGE	Geoff Duryea	Patrick Moloney	7	52kg		98
12	180×891714	SNAPPER (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Michael Poy	4	52kg		96
13	x1112x3x16	STAR PATROL	Clinton McDonald	Damien Thornton	10	52kg		98
14	55x36008x3	SWATS THAT	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Daniel Moor	5	52kg		102
15	11x2121x13	IN SECRET	James Cummings	Ms Jamie Kah	8	51.5kg		111
16	16123×5	BUENOS NOCHES	Matthew Smith	Ben Thompson	9	50.5kg		105

Table Credit: Racing Australia.