York Preview – Friday 15th May

Dante day at York certainly went the way of the bookmakers with the only winning favourite being in the two-year-old maiden race. The victory of Golden Horn and continuing uncertainty about him being supplemented for Epsom has left the Derby picture as murky as ever.

The final day of the meeting features the Yorkshire Cup and that grand old servant, Brown Panther. He finally gained a well-deserved Group 1 victory in the Irish St Leger last season and was last seen winning the Dubai Gold Cup impressively. All ground seems to come alike to him these days and his stamina could see him home again on Friday.

Romsdal and Snow Sky are the young pretenders here and both were placed in classics last season. Romsdal won well enough at Kempton but I was disappointed with how easily he curled up at Newbury last time when challenged. He plugged on into third behind Arab Spring after making the running and I expect to see him ridden with more restraint this time. His Newbury defeat seems to have convinced connections that he would be better going down the Ascot Gold Cup route rather than looking at the top mile and a half races.

The opening two-year-old race looks wide open with several previous winners. Many of them won on the all-weather including New Road Side who made all to win easily at Southwell. That performance was more pleasing to the eye than the victories of either Delizia or Athas An Bhean and she gets the vote at around 6-1.

The second race on the card is a typical York handicap over a mile and a half. You can make a case for most of them but a couple of form lines suggest that Notarised could go well here for Mark Johnston. He was third at Hamilton last time out and finished seven lengths ahead of Esteaming. He meets that one on similar terms and is worth each-way support at around 12-1.

Top Tug and Ajman Bridge will be popular but don’t represent great value. Top Tug ran pretty flat at Newmarket first time out, although he will be better for this trip, while Ajman Bridge has not won since his second career start and yet has gone up over a stone in the weights.

Our final selection is Yasmeen in the 3.45 race. John Gosden’s filly looked very smart when winning on her debut at Newbury and the form has been boosted since. She can get the better of stable companion Sperry who won well at Ascot in the blue of Godolphin.

New Road Side 2.10 @6-1 BetVictor

Notarised 2.40 @12-1 Bet365

Brown Panther 3.15 @9-4 William Hill

Yasmeen 3.45 @5-2 William Hill

York Dante Meeting Day 3 Preview May 17th

The third and final day of the meeting features the Yorkshire Cup. I have gone through this race several times and find it impossible to support any of the runners with any confidence. I have been following Sir Graham Wade’s progress with interest and it may be that he just needed his first couple of outings to put him right. The well-travelled Cavalryman and Joshua Tree have obvious claims and you cannot rule out Royal Diamond on his best form. The stayers division does look wide open this season, a point underlined by Mount Athos being made favourite for the Ascot Gold Cup after winning an egg and spoon race at Chester last week. A little each-way on Sir Graham Wade is the selection.

The supporting card kicks off with a quick reappearance for five-length Chester winner Quatuor. Tom Dascombe’s filly had the race won before the home turn that day and it is going to take a very speedy sort to lower her colours. Another winner on the Roodeye was Sir Michael Stoute’s Sir John Hawkwood and it is highly unusual for the Newmarket trainer to run his horses quickly under a penalty. Ryan Moore rode Chester to perfection that day, kicking his horse in the belly to get over from a wide draw and then staying close to the pace before delivering his effort on the turn. His style of victory was not particularly impressive but the opposition does not look particularly strong.

*Incidentally, for those who like to know these things, Sir John Hawkwood was an English-born mercenary who was active in 14th century Italy, amassing a fortune in land and gold. Sir Graham Wade is named after a musicologist known for his biographies.

Stoute produced Liber Nauticus to win the Musidora on Wednesday and has another smart filly in Pavlosk who won on her debut at Newbury. She is taken to take the step up to Listed class in her stride and the stable can round off a successful day with Rye House in the 4.25. The Dansili colt only raced three times as a three-year-old and has not been kept in training for the good of his health.

Over at Newbury it is worth keeping an eye out for Richard Hannon’s Ninjago. He was held up well off the pace at Ascot on his seasonal debut but moved effortlessly up to the leaders and won with plenty in hand. I expect him to take this Listed contest on the way to better things. Another horse that may not have finished winning is Luca Cumani’s Rockalong who goes for a four-timer over at Newmarket.

Quatuor 1.45 York 11-4 Paddy Power
Sir John Hawkwood 2.15 York 5-2 William Hill
Sir Graham Wade 2.45 York (each-way) 9-1 Bet Victor
Pavlosk (nb) 5-2 Paddy Power
Rye House 3-1 William Hill

Ninjago (NAP) Newbury 13-8 Paddy Power
Rockalong Newmarket 9-4 Ladbrokes