1.55 York – Sky Bet First Race Special Stakes (Handicap)




This looks like a pretty trappy affair to open proceedings and there isn’t really a standout in the field. Barsanti arguably has the best form on offer having finished placed in a pair of Listed events on his last two starts. However, that form has taken a few knocks and looks like rather average company on paper. If you go back three starts, he proved to be a warm order in the Jorvik Stakes over course and distance and on the basis of that run, a 9lb higher mark here doesn’t look insurmountable. It will be no easy task conceding weight all round here though and the suspicion is that he may well be better over further than 1m4f.


Mark Johnston has landed two of the last nine runnings of this contest and enters this year’s race double handed. Stars Over The Sea looks to be the first string on jockey bookings with Joe Fanning in the plate and arrives here in good form having sluiced up at Pontefract earlier this month. That was his second win of the campaign following a victory at Newbury in July with a fine third-place effort at Glorious Goodwood sandwiched in between. He has been hit with a 7lb rise for his latest success which puts him on a career-high mark but he is clearly thriving at present and would be folly to dismiss.
His stablemate Yorkidding is another in fine fettle but does need to bounce back from a below-par display in a Listed race in Germany last time. Prior to that, she landed a quick-fire double over course and distance and at Ascot and seems to once again have her conditions here as she is right at home racing on top of the ground. She also has a career-high mark to contend with but with conditions perfect at a track that she has a very good record on, she certainly enters the equation.


Johnston’s filly isn’t the only one with something to prove on the back of a disappointing run last time out and Shakopee was never involved when sent off as co-favourite at Goodwood last month. In truth, he didn’t really have a chance in a race where those up with the pace dominated throughout and wasn’t given a particularly hard time by Jamie Spencer once the race principals had got first run. He steps up to 1m4f for the first time here but the way he stayed on to win over an extended 1m2f at Doncaster on his penultimate start suggests that it shouldn’t be an issue and being out of a 1m6f winner, his breeding looks to lend itself to a step up in trip as well. He is still a fairly unexposed four-year-old but wouldn’t want to get caught too far back in another competitive big-field handicap here.


Sindarban has a similar profile having had only 6 runs on the level. The five-year-old has looked a different horse since joining Keith Dalgleish this year and built on his Hamilton maiden win in May with a fine performance to land the Cumberland Plate next time out. He was well backed ahead of the Ripon Bell-Ringer Handicap on his next start, being sent off the 11/4 favourite, but looked to have every chance until fading into eighth late on. He may not be done improving but could well be in the handicapper’s grip at present.


With question marks levied against most of the runners, a flyer is taken on MOONMEISTER who could have significant upside off a featherweight of 8st 1lb. Hailing from the shrewd Tony Martin stable, he arrives here having finished a close up sixth in the Guinness Handicap at the Galway Festival on ground that will likely have proven much softer than ideal. He gets in here off the same mark and although his form figures don’t immediately jump out at you, he is only 2lb higher than when scoring in a Dundalk handicap last November. Franny Norton takes the ride here which speaks volumes when you consider that he only partnered one Tony Martin horse the whole of last season, when Heartbreak City hosed up at this meeting last year. With the better ground promising to suit, he is well worth taking an each-way chance on.


MY Advice


MOONMEISTER – 1pt e/w @ 7/1 (Boylesports)




2.30 York – Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup (Group 2)




Seven go to post for this year’s Lonsdale Cup and it looks as competitive a contest as ever, even if it does seem to lack that stayer with star quality as this race has sometimes attracted. Peter Niven’s Clever Cookie heads the market at 3/1 and on his best form; he’d certainly hold every chance in a field of fairly familiar rivals. He loves it here at York and has already got four course wins to his name, three over a mile and six furlongs, so track and trip shouldn’t be an issue. The more concerning issue is if the ground stays fast as expected, whether he has enough pace and speed to keep his head in front of some of these. He’s a real grinder who already has a Group 2 Yorkshire Cup to his name this season and he’s certainly entitled to be there or thereabouts, just as he was when fourth in last year’s renewal, as long as the ground isn’t too fast.


TRIP TO PARIS finished one place behind Niven’s runner last year, but was clearly feeling the effects of the seven runs he’d already had that season as he weakened out of contention. This season is a totally different preparation, with just one run (third over ten furlongs at Newbury in a Listed race) to his name in 2016. He’ll be fresh and well here and goes into the race with a huge chance on his best form – he’s top rated with 3lbs in hand of these on official ratings, enjoys quick ground and should find York’s two miles right up his street. Considering he was ‘underdone’ for his reappearance, he ran a cracker to finish third behind Scottish over an inadequate trip and should have come on plenty for that seeing as it was his first run in over seven months after his trip to Australia and the Far East. To me, he’s the one to beat.


Another who will definitely enjoy a fast surface is the Roger Charlton-trained Quest For More as he is one in the race with a decent turn of foot. This trip may well be a couple of furlongs longer than his optimum, but if he can travel into the race well and make his challenge a little later and a little less wide than he did at Goodwood when he was sixth in the Goodwood Cup last time out, he could certainly play a part in the finish. However, he climbed his way up the handicapping ladder in sensational fashion last season and although he does look worth his place in this company, he hasn’t tasted success in anything above a Class 2 race, so victory could be asking too much of the six-year-old.


After finishing in front of Quest For More and just being denied in the Goodwood Cup, Sir Mark Prescott’s Pallasator goes into this race with a massive chance. He’s a horse that his trainer has always been adamant is better with some cut in the ground, yet his best runs and most of his wins have come on good or firmer. He’s definitely effective over this trip and on fast ground from everything I’ve seen so far, so on the form he’s showed this season and in this sort of event previously, he should have a great chance of winning his second Group contest of the year after comfortably disposing of Suegioo (the outsider of this field) in the Group 3 Henry II Stakes on good to firm ground at Sandown Park in May. He’s always liable to boil over a little before the race though so he’ll have to keep his temperament under wraps if he’s to do himself justice here.


Curbyourenthusiasm would be a surprise winner for me – the trip is a big worry, even though he ran a good race behind Clever Cookie here in the Yorkshire Cup in May, as his only attempt at two miles so far left him tailed off behind a few of these in the Goodwood Cup. However, he will like the ground and will be given every chance to get the trip with a classic canny Jamie Spencer ride, but I’m not sure he’s quite good enough.


Willie Mullins won this last season with Max Dynamite and he sends over his smart multi-discipline horse Wicklow Brave for a crack at this season’s prize. He was a three and a half-length fourth to Big Orange in the Goodwood Cup, a couple of lengths behind Pallasator, and while he probably does have a bit of work to do to overturn that form, he’s been very consistent in Group races over at least a mile and a half in the past year or more and deserves to win a pot like this. However, Mullins has already been clear that his end goal is to go to the Melbourne Cup, so even though he’s a viable each-way bet at the prices, I’d rather be looking at a horse that had been trained for this race all along.




MY Advice




TRIP TO PARIS – 1pt win @ 3/1 (bet365, Paddy Power)




3.05 York – Sky Bet City of York Stakes (Group 3)




Three-year-olds haven’t had the best record in this contest over the years but Fadhayyil was the second of the younger generation to prevail in the last six years and they look to hold a strong hand once again.


NEMORALIA looks the one to beat receiving weight from all her rivals and has some exceptional form at the highest level to her name this year. Jeremy Noseda’s filly rounded off last campaign with a pair of placed efforts in US Grade 1s, including a close up third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and showed that she retained all of that ability on return this season when bolting up in a Listed race at the Dante Festival back in May. She was well fancied in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at the Royal meeting and ran a blinder to finish within a couple of lengths of subsequent Prix Rothschild winner Qemah and narrowly ahead of Falmouth Stakes heroine Alice Springs. That was a phenomenal effort in ground much softer than she would like and she was sent off hot favourite in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat next time. She didn’t really live up to expectations there but that was a pretty hot race and this Group 3 will prove to be much calmer waters. Back on her favoured ground, she could take a lot of beating and the drop back to seven furlongs shouldn’t prove too much of an inconvenience.


Her nearest rival will likely be fellow three-year-old Forge who was a fine second behind stablemate Thikriyaat in a Group 3 at Goodwood last month having finished a similar distance behind the same horse when third to subsequent Prix Jacques Le Marois winner Ribchester in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot. He has shown how effective he can be over a mile but seven furlongs looks the perfect foil for him at present and the drop back in trip here promises to suit. He is still improving at present and although he may have a bit to find with the selection on these terms, he could well finish closer than the market suggests.


Birchwood is another of the younger brigade to hold strong claims as one of the Godolphin trio in the line-up. He broke the track record over Newmarket July Course’s seven furlongs when taking the Group 2 Superlative Stakes last year but hasn’t particularly progressed as expected since then. He hinted at a revival when landing the Listed City Plate at Chester early last month but was firmly put in his place in the Group 2 Lennox Stakes latest and although this should prove an easier proposition, he may need to take another step forward to trouble the principals.


The charge for the ‘Boys in Blue’ is led by Charming Thought who has returned in decent nick having missed all of 2015 due to injury. The now four-year-old steps up to seven furlongs for the first time here and that could well aid his cause given how he seemed to be staying on at the finish when fourth over six furlongs in the Listed Cathedral Stakes at Salisbury on his comeback run. If he returns to anywhere near the same level that saw him land the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes, he could prove to be different class but he doesn’t seem to be quite the same horse these days.


Flash Fire rounds off their challenge but he looks to have a bit to find with Librisa Breeze on the back of his fourth-place finish behind Dean Ivory’s charge in the International Handicap at Ascot last month. The gallant grey has come on in leaps and bounds since joining Ivory over the winter and has been a hype horse since finishing a good second to Portage in the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot. Robert Winston was drawn on the wrong side but navigated his way on to the better ground and came with an eye-catching burst to grab second inside the final furlong. He duly followed up when a warm order on King George day with a very ready success for such a competitive handicap but this is a step into pattern company for the first time and he may just find one or two slightly classier types in the field.


MY Advice




NEMORALIA – 1pt win @ 9/4 (William Hill, SkyBet)







3.40 York – Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes (Group 1)




The highlight of the week for the sprinters is the Nunthorpe Stakes and this year’s field looks to have just about everything with a number of high-class older horses as well as a couple from the two-year-old generation.


Henry Candy’s Limato couldn’t have been more impressive when winning the July Cup at Newmarket last month, showing a devastating turn of foot to see of his rivals in a matter of strides. As a gelding it is little surprise that connections have opted to have a go at this race but you have to wonder whether he might just find this 5f trip a little bit sharp for him. He won over seven furlongs last term and although conditions are likely to be in his favour, I think 3/1 is short enough.


Just behind Limato in fourth at Newmarket was Clive Cox’s Profitable who prior to that had won his last three starts including the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot. I don’t think there is any doubt that he is better over five furlongs and he is just about the best five furlongs horse around at the moment. There isn’t a lot between him and Mecca’s Angel on their Haydock run and if the rain misses York then he is probably better equipped to handle the quicker ground.


Michael Dods’ filly Mecca’s Angel has been a star for her trainer and won this race with some authority twelve months ago. She doesn’t need the ground to be bottomless but she does enjoy a bit of give in the ground so the warm forecast for today and small chance of rain on Friday do not bode well for her. Her connections are more open to running her on quicker ground this year as this is likely to be her final season in training. On her best form and on good to soft ground I think she would take all the beating but I fear that conditions may be a bit quick for her tomorrow.


Of the older sprinters, one who would relish fast ground is Goldream who won both the King’s Stand at the Abbaye at Longchamp last season. He has run only once since March this term because of the ground and he finished a fine third in the King George behind Take Cover. I’m sure he was plenty fit enough for that run but this course may suit him a little better than Goodwood and he can’t be ruled out.
However, one of the unique features about this race is that the two-year-olds are able to take on their older counterparts and they receive a significant weight allowance (at least 19lb) from all of their rivals here. Prince Of Lir was good when winning the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot but he was disappointing last time in France and he comes here with a few questions to answer.


The other two-year-old in the race is YALTA who won his first two starts this season before finishing a disappointing eighth in the Coventry Stakes. He also bombed out in the July Stakes next time but he was dropped back to five furlongs at Goodwood and he showed himself to be a very smart two-year-old. He likes to get out in front and given his physical size, he should have no problem taking on the older generation. The ground shouldn’t make any difference to him and my only slight concern is the draw as he is drawn right on the stands’ rail in 19. History tells us that a good two-year-old can often go close here with Radiohead (3rd in 2009) and Acapulco going close last year. This looks to be his trip and although the field looks strong I think he has a good each-way chance at around the 9/1 mark.




MY Advice




YALTA – 1pt e/w @ 10/1 (Paddy Power) (4 places)





4.20 York – British Stallion Studs EBF Convivial Maiden Stakes.




With over £35,000 to the winner, this is one of the most valuable maidens of the season and unsurprisingly it has attracted a pretty field for this year’s renewal. Experience can also often count for a lot as of the six most recent winners, only White Lake managed to win here at the first time of asking.


William Haggas enjoys having winners here on the Knavesmire and his Rivet is likely to be popular in the betting, having shaped with a lot of promise when second at Ascot on his debut. Having been slowly away, the penny dropped from about halfway and he came home strongly to finish second at the line. The winner is highly-regarded within the Richard Hannon camp and normal progression should see him go close here.


Dance Teacher also had a nice introduction at Salisbury earlier this month, failing to reign in the winner but they finished nicely clear of the third. Ralph Beckett’s two-year-olds tend to improve for the run so you have to be encouraged that she ran so well first time and clearly more is expected here.


Abiento and Midaawi both have plenty of experience under their belt and at the time of writing, they are both upwards of 16/1. The former is perhaps the most interesting, having encountered trouble in running at Goodwood last time before running on well. He is less likely to find trouble here and he could be overpriced.


However, BLACK TRILBY finished just ahead of him at Goodwood and the form was far from disgraced yesterday when the winner Lockheed finished a good third in the Acomb Stakes. Clive Cox’s colt just let Lockheed get first run on him last time but he came home well in the closing stages to be beaten just half a length at the line. He seemed to appreciate the extra furlong there and having stepped forward from his first run, there is no reason he can’t go forward again. It is a tough race but I am surprised he is as big as 15/2 and I think he looks a solid each-way bet at the prices.


Of the debutants, perhaps the most interesting is Hugo Palmer’s Via Serendipity who cost a whopping 320,000 guineas at the breeze-up sales in April. To give you an idea of how the others at that sale fared, there were only three horses who went for more and all three won at the first time of asking. The juveniles from this stable have been running very well of late and it would be no surprise to see this Dewhurst entry go very close on debut.


Charlie Appleby’s Capezzano could also go well first time but we don’t have much to go on with him. His two siblings to have raced haven’t won between them but he has a good American pedigree but if I had to guess I would say he will probably improve for the experience as the stable’s 2yos often do.




MY Advice




BLACK TRILBY – 0.75pt e/w @ 15/2 (bet365)




4.55 York – Nationwide Accident Repair Services Stakes (Handicap)




I love these three-year-old handicaps as they’re full of improving horses with loads of potential and this race is no different. The weights are headed by a Richard Hannon inmate who has had an excellent season, improving 30lbs from the start of the season, where he won over a mile at Chelmsford. Oh This Is Us has already registered a couple of useful wins in his last four runs, including at Goodwood and Newmarket, so the jump to a rating of 100 may well not prove too big an obstacle, even though he is encountering some unexposed rivals here. He enjoys quick ground and this sharp mile at York should prove ideal, so even though he has to concede plenty of weight to most of the field, he should be there or thereabouts.


Viscount Barfield is the one that heads the market currently and on his last performance, an almost two-length win over the useful War Glory at Chester, you can see why he’s well-fancied. He’s gone up 6lbs for that and is now dipping his toe in a stronger race, but the track and trip should suit and there’s certainly no reason why he won’t have come on again. The worry would be genuinely fast ground – his first two runs on the racetrack were on good to firm ground and they produced nothing of real note, so even though that could have simply been inexperience and he won on good last time at Chester, it’s a question mark.


After disappointing last time out when well-fancied at Goodwood over a mile and a quarter, the Luca Cumani-trained Banksea drops back to a mile here for the first time since May, where he was a close second to Taurean Star in a very strong three-year-old handicap at Ascot off a mark of 77. He’s improved plenty since then, now running off 94, but that mark could still be within this colt’s capabilities, especially if he goes off prominently and uses his proven stamina to try and draw the sting out of the rest. He enjoys quick ground, but I have a feeling this might be too sharp a test for him now, being out of a Galileo mare and looking as if he was well-suited by that ten furlong trip when winning so well at Pontefract and running a good race at Newmarket at the July Festival.


Another Touch bounced back to form in a big way when winning a competitive handicap at Newmarket last time out – that was over a mile on fast ground and that seems to be the key to him. Obvioulsy this test will suit then and after going up just 3lbs for that win, he should be very competitive again here. A draw in stall 19 could be an issue though, as could his disappointing record in races with over 12 runners (beaten at least 7 lengths in all three big-field contests), but he’s still one worth considering for his shrewd handler, Richard Fahey.


A horse I tipped up each-way at Glorious Goodwood, only to be beaten half a length by a late charging Shady McCoy, was Dean Ivory’s Twin Sails and he’s back in action again here with another great chance of success. I’ve always thought he was a smart horse that didn’t get as much credit as he deserves – he was less than a length back in fourth in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes and third behind Mr Lupton and Humphrey Bogart in the big sales race at Doncaster as a two-year-old. He’s taken his time to hit top form this season, but near misses in competitive handicaps in all of his last three starts suggest that his turn can’t be far away. The Sir Percy colt was actually a length behind Another Touch at Newmarket last time out, but was very keen that day. If he can settle better, the combination of that and a 3lb swing in the weights could see him reverse the form with that rival and be a huge threat to the rest of the field under PJ McDonald. 18/1 far underestimates chis chance and he was close to being the each-way selection if it wasn’t for the presence of the next horse.


Clive Cox won this race last season with the very progressive My Dream Boat, who has gone on to become a Group1 winner this season at Royal Ascot, pipping the brilliant filly, Found, in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes. This time around, he has the Pivotal colt, BOBBY WHEELER, representing him and both the trainer and the jockeys that have ridden this horse haven’t been shy about saying how smart they think he is.


Cox gushed about the colt’s pedigree (by Pivotal and out of Regal Rose, a Danehill mare who was a Group 1 winner) after he won his maiden at Salisbury and the jockey that day, Gerald Mosse, seemed very impressed, telling Cox to ‘look after him’. Adam Kirby rides today, as he did at Ascot, where the three-year-old made all in a useful-looking handicap for the age group, and he also spoke of how Bobby Wheeler was ‘clearly quite a smart horse’. He was a very close second to Hawatif over seven furlongs at Goodwood last time out, giving that useful filly 10lbs, and his mark has only gone up 1lb for that great effort, so over this longer trip, 93 looks more than workable. Don’t forget, this will also be only his seventh start on the racecourse, so he’s learning all the time and if he can keep his keen-going tendencies under control, he’ll have a massive chance from stall 11.




MY Advice




BOBBY WHEELER – 1pt e/w @ 12/1 (SkyBet)