Turf Talk: Yorkshire's own Shaquille is the new superstar of the sprinting world

There were some outstanding performances at Royal Ascot last week, with the best being that of Shaquille in the Group One Commonwealth Cup. He reared up in the stalls, gave the field five lengths start, and still won, seeing off Little Big Bear, who had been considered unbeatable.

He is trained at Star Cottage in Norton, just outside Malton, by Julie Camacho. Julie took over the yard from her father Maurice, who now runs the stable’s stud, and together with her partner Steve Brown she is establishing a formidable team of horses.

Shaquille is a personal favourite of mine. When tipping him for the Ascot race last week I mentioned that I had backed him at 100/1 on his racing debut, and again at 12/1 when he won at York’s October meeting.

He is now unbeaten in three starts this season and is the new superstar of the sprinting world. He goes next in the July Cup at Newmarket in a fortnight’s time. It is a great fillip to Yorkshire racing to have such a top-class horse trained in the county.

The televised racing at the weekend is from Newmarket and Newcastle, with the feature race being the Northumberland Plate. This race was switched to the all-weather track at Newcastle in 2016 and has since lost a lot of its prestige and glamour.

Post Impressionist hasn’t been seen for 267 days, but he is trained by the in-form William Haggas and is my idea of the winner. The booking of Oisin Murphy for Golden Rules in this race looks significant and fellow Newmarket raider Omniscient is feared. They are my three for the tri-cast

Haggas can also win the Chipchase Stakes with Tiber Flow, this horse boasts two wins at the course, so we know he handles the Tapeta track.

I am going all in on Haggas this Saturday as his Al Aasy (Fred Archer Stakes) and Aldaary (Criterion Stakes) both look to have good chances at Newmarket.

Garlick’s Goodies: Saturday Newmarket 1:15 – Al Aasy; 1:50 - Aldaary; Newcastle 12:55 – Tiber Flow; 2:05 – Post Impressionist.