Racing
York Ebor Festival tips: Day 4
After he was a short head from winning the York Ebor Festival Place 6 on Tuesday, Steven Dowler went one better on Thursday with his Syndicate copping. He’s hoping to go back-to-back on Saturday in the Boosted £7,000 Place 6. Read his York Ebor Festival tips and join his Syndicate.
York Ebor Festival tips
13.50 – Strensall Stakes – 1m
David O’Meara’s Lord Glitters won this race in 2018 and there’s obvious claims of him repeating the feat two years later. The seven-year-old is the only C&D winner in the field so the drop back in trip shouldn’t pose any sort of problem but DARK VISION’s win at Royal Ascot and second at Sandown was boosted when the horse he was closely tied in with Montatham won well the other day. Mark Johnston’s four-year-old is a former Group-2 winner and remains in the form of his life this season. With that being said, I just can’t not have him on our ticket so he is the first pick in my York Ebor Festival tips.
POGO has enjoyed a fruitful 2020 campaign thus far, placing at Newmarket on debut when beaten only half-a-length before running a big race to finish third in the Royal Hunt Cup (better off at the weights with winner Dark Vision today). He then made all the running to win by five-lengths in a Listed race at Windsor before chasing home the high-class Persian King over in France at the highest level. A reproduction of any of those performances entitles him to the utmost respect with Ryan Moore booked to ride, which is a further plus.
Selections: DARK VISION, POGO
14.25 – Melrose Handicap – 1m5f
This is tricky with most of these looking very well-treated at the moment. The time-figures FISHABLE achieved last time out suggested he’s worth a shot at this sort of level, and I can’t quite believe he’s available at double-digits. A 5lb rise in the handicap for today’s race looks manageable based on the way he seemed to have more in hand then the winning margin indicated at Ripon last time out.
He has shown a huge amount of potential to date, winning the last twice and I loved just how much improvement he has made in each start for connections. From a form and handicapping perspective, he remains way too big in the betting to be dismissed given his initial mark of 89 might have slightly underestimated him. With a good draw in stall 4 and David Allan remaining in the saddle, and at the prices, he’s definitely the one I’m most interested in.
KIPPS could be still well-handicapped on a mark of 88 with Ryan Moore remaining in the saddle. He stayed on nicely from off the pace to be a never-nearer fourth at Newmarket when last seen, and this track should play to Hughie Morrison’s three-year-old better being left on an unchanged mark.
BODYLINE looks to be a key player representing Sir Mark Prescott and Ryan Tate. He’s placed second in three of his last four races and the form of his sixth at Royal Ascot when denied a clear run has been franked with the first, third and fifth upholding the form. He’s 2lb higher today, but he can’t be discounted with plenty more to come.
Selections: FISHABLE, KIPPS, BODYLINE
15.00 – City Of York Stakes – 7f
I was very frustrated when SAFE VOYAGE was denied a clear run throughout the whole of the final two furlongs in the Lennox Stakes at Glorious Goodwood as I was adamant he would have at least finished second if he endured a smooth passage. To his ultimate credit, he absolutely sprouted wings once daylight arrived to take third, just missing out on the third place, but crossing the line on the bridle.
The winner Space Blues, boosted the form by winning a Group-1 next time out, so it showed you how good Safe Voyage ran in defeat under the circumstances. He’s proven himself to be useful at the highest-level having plied his trade well with some of the best horses around over various distances. In fact, he’s been unfortunate to have been just touched off by Space Blues twice this season with valid excuses each time and there’s nothing in today’s race that is in the same calibre as Charlie Appleby’s smart youngster.
Of the rest, I can envisage SAN DONATO will be involved at the business end of this race now eased in grade. He won three times as a two-year-old, and has looked as good as ever this season on both occasions. Firstly, when chasing home the top-class Mohaather on his return to action in the Group-2 Summer Mile before finishing behind that rival in the Sussex Stakes. For a brief moment – he looked like he made a race winning move before his run petered out late in the day which was evidently against the best milers.
Selections: SAFE VOYAGE, SAN DONATO
15.40 – Ebor Handicap – 1m5f
As expected, the feature race of the week is always an absolute minefield to dissect with 20 plus runners going to post each year with this year no different, so it might pay to have a few runners on side.
Nicky Henderson’s Grade-1 winning hurdler VERDANA BLUE ran a cracker back on the flat at Royal Ascot on her seasonal debut where she was beaten only one length off top-weight 9-10 over 2m3f. She might well have won with a clear passage too having met trouble in running two furlongs out before cruising into the lead at the furlong marker. The form of that race has been well-advertised with the horse back in third Summer Moon winning this week. This high-class dual purpose sort remains unexposed in this sphere and the assessor has only put her up a couple of pounds for that monster performance last time out which evidently makes her very well-treated.
It’s interesting to see Charlie Appleby’s only runner on the card GHOSTWATCH contests this fiercely-competitive. He’s progressive and if you take away his only below par performance which was on the back of a near two-year absence, his form is completely rock-solid and a further plus is that he’s a proven C&D winner. He has shown he retains his ability in his three comeback runs this year and off what looks a lenient mark of 106, I think he has enough in reserve to raise his game and be in the mix for the boys in blue.
Charlie Fellowes’ team are in good form his runner JEREMIAH couldn’t land a blow behind Deja in the Old Newton Cup but reacted well to the blinkers when getting the better of Sam Cooke in a terrific battle. I was on the runner-up that day who was unlucky but Jeremiah showed a good attitude having travelled stealthily well. Unfortunately he failed to get a clear run back at the same track two weeks ago, so you can put a line through that performance. He has sneaked in here off a feather weight with Jim Crowley retained and his mark has remaining unchanged.
Selections: VERDANA BLUE, GHOSTWATCH, JEREMIAH
16.10 – Roses Stakes – 5f
I’m quietly confident LAUDED can win this having bypassed an engagement yesterday in order to run in this much easier contest. Tom Dascombe’s smart two-year-old was an impressive winner on debut on similar ground to what he will encounter this Friday. He finished a respectable seventh in the mid-field Coventry Stakes Royal Ascot where he travelled extremely well, looking the winner for a brief moment before the sticky ground along with the high-draw looked viable excuses for the lack of turn of foot in the closing stages. He looked back on track when a good third when last seen in a warm Group-2 and the switch in races by connections should prove beneficial.
Nigel Tinkler could have a speedball on his hands with ACKLAM EXPRESS who outran his 50/1 odds on debut to finish third before winning the next twice including when beating some useful sorts at Goodwood when last seen. If he was trained by one of the bigger yards, there’s no doubt he would be shorter in the market and it’s hard to see him out of the frame with room for improvement.
I am also going to give another chance to MACHO PRIDE who makes plenty of appeal as an outsider on paper. He won impressively on debut before he acquitted himself well when finishing fifth in the Group-2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. He then finished a creditable sixth in a Listed event at Sandown where he made the most until weakening out of contention inside the final 100 yards. With that being said, York is a more flat galloping track and it tends to suit front-runners which will definitely see Macho Pride to better effect.
Selections: LAUDED, ACKLAM EXPRESS, MACHO PRIDE
16.40 – Sky Bet Handicap – 1m2f
Another red-hot handicap on today’s card but it might be worth taking another chance on FIFTH POSITION who finished a good third in the John Smith’s Cup off this mark when conceding 9lb to the winner Sinjaari. He travelled beautifully throughout before getting caught in a pocket two furlongs out and then keeping on nicely in the closing stages. Roger Varian’s four-year-old is much better off at the weights with the winner this time, and that indicates him having a strong chance of reversing the form. Fifth Position raced far too keenly at Glorious Goodwood when eighth behind Maydanny, but again, has a massive weight pull from the other market rival so providing he can settle better on an unchanged mark, I can see the pair being a lot closer today.
The top-weight MOUNTAIN HUNTER could represent some value for each-way purposes representing the boys in blue. He’s often been highly tried in his career, for which includes multiple successes and placed efforts over in Meydan on a regular basis against fair opposition. He’s a very good horse and for instance, his last win on UK soil came in a Listed event at Newmarket where he beat a couple of 110-rated rivals including recent winner and stablemate Loxley. That rounds off my York Ebor Festival tips for this year, let’s hope it’s another great day!
Selections: FIFTH POSITION, MOUNTAIN HUNTER
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