Stargazer can steer clear of stewards this time

Stargazer can put the record straight with victory in the Play 4Toscore At Betway Handicap at Newcastle.

Trained by Phil Kirby, he got his head in front on the Tapeta track here in March, when passing the post first in a valuable handicap only for the stewards to intervene. The five-year-old drifting to his left wasruled to have been enough to deny Island Brave victory in a race decided by a nose.

Whether that call was right is debatable because a loose horse made things difficult for rider Kevin Stott – but for which the feeling is he would have been a clear winner.

That run came on the back of Stargazer’s promising first run for Kirby when second here over two and a bit miles – and while three outings on turf since have not gone as might have been hoped, he ought to be cherry ripe for what is another decent prize. Helping his cause is the fact he is back to the same mark of 95, and he is a horse who clearly likes it around Gosforth Park.