Raceday LIVE – Aspire To Glory
Related horse(s):
Aspire To GloryRead our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Aspire To Glory's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
Aspire To Glory makes the long trip up north for the second time in his career, as he races over seven furlongs at Newcastle tonight. His only other run at Gosforth Park came in January of this year in a race over a mile, where he finished just over five lengths behind the winner on that day, Cloch Nua, whom he lines up against once more today. Aspire To Glory is set to drop back in trip to seven furlongs today, having raced over a mile in his last four runs, including a victory at Wolverhampton exactly one month ago.
WATCH: Aspire To Glory powers home to land his third career victory

Following that impressive victory, Alice Haynes decided to turn him out as quickly as possible for his next run, avoiding the handicapper raising his weight in the process. However, on that day at Southwell, he proved to be quite restless in the stalls, which appeared to take his usual exuberance away from him, as he faded quite quickly in the final stages of the race before Kieran O'Neill, who rode him for his previous victory at Wolverhampton, allowed him to finish the race at his own pace, coming home in ninth place of the twelve runners in the field.
After that, Alice decided to give Aspire To Glory a short break, to allow him to recover properly from the tough run he experienced last time out, before lining up two potential options for his return this month. The decision was made to send him back down to seven furlongs, with the drop in trip on Newcastle's straight track potentially playing to his strengths more as a strong front runner. His early career form over the shorter distance was also impressive, as proven when he won back-to-back races over seven furlongs at Kempton and Lingfield at the end of 2023.
WATCH: Aspire To Glory puts in some pleasing work on Newmarket gallops

The number of runners in the final field should be set to suit our four-year-old too, with only one other horse in the race, Saisons d'Or, that's likely to try to make the running along with Aspire To Glory. Drawn widest of all in stall six shouldn't prove too much of a problem for Aspire To Glory either, given the small field that's set to line up in the contest, and providing he breaks well, he should be able to shadow his way into the race nicely.
Raceday update from trainer Alice Haynes
'Aspire To Glory is set to run in a 7f handicap at Newcastle tonight, due off at 20:15. It's a small field and we have the rail draw in stall six. The other main pace angle to the race, Saisons d'Or, is in stall four so hopefully he can give us a tow into the race and then we can make a challenge.
Aspire To Glory has done well for a little break and if he can return to the level of form he showed when winning at Wolverhampton he can be competitive again.'
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, gives his thoughts on f tonight's 20:15 at Newcastle
Aspire To Glory was below form having pulled too hard at Southwell last time and will need to improve on that form to get back on track. Excuses are easy enough to find, however, and going into his race last time there was a concern that a mile on a galloping track with a long straight probably wasn’t his optimum test. As such, a drop back to 7f here looks a plus and though this is a higher grade than he’s been in for a while, if he’s in the form he was for his Wolverhampton win then he should be competitive.
Tactically it looks as though he could be well positioned, with Saisons d’Or looking the likely early leader and Aspire To Glory the obvious one to sit closest to him with a lead. If those two relax well enough and don’t take each other on too early then they could get an advantage.
That’s especially the case as the main form rivals Cloch Nua and Bomb Squad both tend to come from off the pace. Cloch Nua does have the turn of foot to overcome a steadily run race at this level and looks the horse to beat having already enjoyed a fruitful campaign with four wins in five starts. Up 4lbs in the weights for that latest victory, he’s still well-handicapped on old form and his latest effort was boosted by the next time out win of the third horse. Bomb Squad has less handicapping scope and is more reliant on a good pace so is a less obvious threat, though he’s very consistent and in top form.
Rooska is yet to win but is on a fair mark and looked like he should probably improve for the run when shaping fairly well in fourth over course and distance at the start of the month.
Trainer and Jockey Statistics
Alice Haynes has sent out one winner from her last 10 runners, and that arrived at Lingfield yesterday, a card in which she also had a second place finisher on. Given the distance that Newcastle is from her Newmarket yard, it's unsurprising that she's only sent 81 runners there in her career, coming back with eight winners from those.
Kieran O'Neill has been in relatively solid form recently, with three winners from his 23 rides in the last fortnight, including the aforementioned Alice Haynes-trained winner at Lingfield yesterday afternoon. He's similarly solid at Newcastle too, with a 12% career strike rate at Gosforth Park, and one of those has come from ten rides there this year.
Aspire To Glory's Owners for the Day
As winners of the recent Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Aspire To Glory's run at Newcastle this evening.
What's included in an Owner for the Day prize?
- Free racecourse entry
- Access to the Owners & Trainers enclosure
- Access to the Parade Ring before the race
- Meet Aspire To Glory and the Alice Haynes team
- Take home a 10% share of any prize money he wins
Prize Money
Today's Class 6 contest is worth £6,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,140 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £1,473 | 3rd: £736 | 4th: £368 | 5th: £183

Get paid as a WINNER in CASH up to a stake of £/€10 if your horse finishes 2nd by a head or less behind the winner in today's 20:15 at Newcastle – click here to find out more.
NEWCASTLE 20:30 – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 20:15 to watch Aspire To Glory's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.