Crisford Contender Treble Tee Tops Cambridgeshire Market

Saddle on Horse on Bright Day

Saturday sees the three-day Cambridgeshire Meeting draw to a close with a cracking eight-race card. The Group 1 double act of the Cheveley Park Stakes and Middle Park Stakes top the bill from a class perspective and regularly help identify future Classic contenders. However, much of the betting interest centres around the fixture’s titular handicap.

Back in 1839, Newmarket added two new handicaps to its menu in the shape of the Cambridgeshire and the Cesarewitch. Over time, the ultra-competitive contests have come to be known as the Autumn Double.

The opening leg takes place over 1m1f of the Rowley Mile course and offers £175,000 in prize money. For punters, the 2025 Cambridgeshire presents an intriguing 24-horse puzzle, but which runners does the market suggest are most likely to prevail?

Treble Tee Heads the Market

Cambridgeshire Handicap 2025 Betting

Simon Crisford came closest to landing this prize when saddling Mordin to finish second in 2018. Now training in partnership with his son Ed, the odds suggest he has every chance of going one better with the three-year-old Treble Tee.

Having broken his maiden at the first time of asking in 2024, this son of Persian King failed to deliver on that promise during his juvenile campaign. However, wind surgery and a gelding operation appear to have worked the oracle. Kicking off 2025 with runner-up finishes at Thirsk and Goodwood, he arrives on the back of a career-best win in a 1m handicap at the Doncaster St Leger meeting.

With the weights for this announced before his success on Town Moor, he’s 4lb well in, according to the official handicapper, and makes obvious appeal.

Fifth to Make it Six for Gosden?

First winning with Halling in 1994 and most recently with 2019 champ Lord North, John Gosden’s total of five wins makes him the most successful trainer in Cambridgeshire history. Interestingly, four of those five victories were achieved with three-year-olds.

Ticking the Gosden-trained three-year-old box this time around is the Godolphin gelding Fifth Column. In common with Treble Tee, this son of Kingman has responded well to a gelding procedure – zero from four before the op, he has won four of six outings since. Getting up close home to score at York in August, he’s 5lb higher here, but may appreciate the additional furlong. With William Buick in the saddle, he’s clear second favourite with most firms.

The John & Thady Gosden team are also responsible for the only other runner trading at a single figure price in the days before the event. One year older than both Treble Tee and Fifth Column, Westridge may have less up his sleeve from the handicapper. However, having previously scored over 1m2f, we do know that he stays this far, while his main market rivals are yet to race beyond 1m.

Top Weight to Strike Again

Unusually for such a competitive contest, the past two editions of the Cambridgeshire have been won by the horse carrying top weight. Following the victories of Astro King (2023) and Liberty Lane (2024), Boiling Point is the latest tasked with shouldering the welter burden.

Like Liberty Lane, Boiling Point is four years old, hails from the Yorkshire yard of Karl Burke, and sports the yellow-and-black silks of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maltoum. The parallels continue, as Boiling Point finished second in his Cambridgeshire prep, just as Liberty Lane had done 12 months ago. Labelled “A Group horse in a handicap” by his trainer, he seems sure to be a popular each-way option.

Burke’s second string, Thunder Run, sits second in the weights and boasts solid form in similar contests. Only 3lb higher than when scoring at York in May, he has been the subject of strong market support in the week before the race.

Walker and Wathnan Runners Also Catch the Eye

With 14 wins at Listed level or above, 2025 has already been a year to remember for Ed Walker. A win in one of the season’s major handicaps would be a nice way to round off the campaign. Going in the capable hands of Oisin Murphy, Fort George may be the horse to keep the good times rolling. Never finishing outside the first three in four handicap outings, he arrives on the back of an easy 3½l win at Newbury.

There are 24 runners set to go to post, but only one has a course and distance win to their name. That honour belongs to the Wathnan Racing contender Real Gain. Having shown little in three outings in 2024, he took a step back in the right direction when third at Goodwood on his seasonal return. Only 4lb higher than when striking over this track and trip in 2023, he has the services of Wathnan number one James Doyle in the saddle.

The above runners are among the more obvious contenders on paper. However, with winners priced at 20/1, 25/1, 40/1 (twice), and 50/1 in the past eight years, the Cambridgeshire often doesn’t play out as anticipated.