Good golly it’s York already and after a mentioning a few winners last weekend I thought I would “spoil” you all with a brief preview of the bigger and better races on the Knavesmire – though once again, the inclement weather is a potential issue and one we will all have to deal with – so do tread very carefully when placing any bets!
York Wednesday
Tattersalls Acomb Stakes 2.15pm
Cloudbridge did look a very decent beast when winning with plenty left in the tank on debut for Charlie Appleby and he could be anything and is fully deserving of his place at the head of the market. He is not by any means comfortably overlooked but I have been told for some time now that Darvel is the best of the Kevin Ryan two-year-olds and if that is the case, then the 4.1 looks a spot of value. Naturally I was all over him like a rash when he was a coltish fourth on debut before failing to notice his entry at Ayr when he hacked up by a couple of lengths – the story of my life perhaps? He still looked pretty green to me so I am hoping he can improve again here, though whether he will be as effective on the likely slower surface is the great unknown hence my suggestion we all reduce any bets accordingly.
Great Voltigeur Stakes 2.45pm
All options remain on the table here in a race where I can make a decent enough case for most of the runners if they put in their very best, of course. In race card order, Pyledriver failed to handle Epsom and got knocked about at the start and is clearly better than that judged on his Royal Ascot success, Berkshire Rocco has run well in both starts and clearly has the stamina for even further, and Darain is impossible to knock with a two from two record – but steps up in both trip and class and needs to offer more even with his yearling price tag of 3.5 million Guineas. Highland Chief was only three-quarters of a length behind Mogul at Goodwood yet trades at five time the price of that rival, while Mogul flattered to deceive numerous times before finally coming good in the Gordon Stakes, but failed to set the pulse racing with a workmanlike performance. Roberto Escobarr is the hardest to gauge after a smooth success in a Class Five novice here over shorter and could be the dark horse, leaving Juan Elcano and Subjectivist (a length and a half behind Mogul in Sussex) as the two least likely contenders. All in all, a really tough race to call, but I will give a second chance to Pyledriver here at 12/1 each way who should find the track far more to his liking and at the very least, looks a spot of value in a race almost any of them could win.
Juddmonte International Stakes 3.15pm
Just the five runners remain including 100/1 outsider Rose Of Kildare though we still have a high class renewal headed by the 127 rated Ghaiyyath for Charlie Appleby and William Buick. Unbeaten this season he looks set to get a nice soft lead in this field (unless the rag tries to take him on which I can’t see lasting long), leaving the one simple question – do any of the others have the kick needed to reel him in close home. Lord North certainly impressed when taking the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and looks a serios danger though whether beating Addeybb three-and-three-quarter lengths is as good as beating Enable by over two lengths seems doubtful. Magical represents Aidan O’Brien and seems even better this season and as she handles softer ground as well or better than the others, she may be the one to serve it up to the favourite. Her form with a race fit Enable last season matches the best on offer here for me and if Ryan Moore can keep tabs on the leader then she may be the one with the kick left to put the race to bed. Kameko intrigues as the best of the classic generation and wasn’t given the best of rides in the Sussex Stakes as admitted by Oisin Murphy afterwards but with so many soundbites about remaining at a mile after his Derby loss you have to wonder why he tries a mile and a quarter here in a race that seems sure to be run at a stamina sapping pace from the off.
York Thursday
Lowther Stakes 1.45pm
A surprisingly big field expected here and luck in running may yet play a part in deciding who comes home in front. Sacred heads the betting after a debut win at Newmarket and a second to Campanelle in the Queen Mary Stakes and on that form, she does look the one they all have to beat. She isn’t perfectly drawn in the twelve stall but still looks tough to oppose, but at a huge price I will be having a little each way on Noorban who is drawn next door in the thirteen stall. She was well backed on her debut at Beverley and came home in front despite a slow start and having to weave her way through when needed and having heard she has improved considerably for that experience, she might well hit the frame at a big price here.
Clipper Logistics Handicap 2.45pm
Regular readers will know that I rarely venture in to handicaps – after all, the best horse can finish fifth if he or she has to give lumps of weight away to those who finish in front that day, but is Top Rank really a handicapper? The James Tate trained four-year-old has won all four races so far and simply cruised home hard held at Thirsk last time out, and that on his first start in ten months, suggesting there is plenty more to come. Admittedly, the handicapper took a pretty dim view of that success and put him up twelve pounds, yet his superiority was such that I feel he can shrug that off today before he takes another step up the ranks in to Listed or group company where he may still hold his own.
Darley Yorkshire Oaks 3.15pm
How can you have a race that includes Franconia (unbeaten this season and the conqueror of the highly regarded Gold Wand who has every chance in the 3.45pm here over shorter), and Frankly Darling (Ribblesdale Stakes winner and Oaks third), and easy Lancashire Oaks winner Manuela De Vega and still have an odds on favourite who I am yet to mention. All I can say is that Love looks to be something very very special and in my view is perhaps the best three-year-old of 2020. A daughter of Galileo out of Pikaboo (by Pivotal), she was OK as a juvenile with three wins from seven starts but she has blossomed with another winter on her back taking the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket by over four lengths and following up in the Epsom Oaks by nine lengths with the wow factor attached. Odds on here she cannot be opposed if she remains in that kind of form – but sadly she is no kind of betting proposition either.
Sean’s Suggestions:
Darvel 2.15pm York Wednesday
Pyledriver each way 2.45pm York Wednesday
Top Rank 2.45pm York Wednesday
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