Graphic makes a quick reappearance for William Haggas in a competitive race at York tomorrow after his fine fourth in the Cambridgeshire. The four-year-old was boldly ridden from the front by Frankie Dettori but could not sustain the gallop in the closing stages. Even so, it was a decent effort in one of the toughest handicaps of the season and he looks to have a great chance off just a 3lb higher mark on Friday.
Ryan Moore has been booked to take the ride and I would expect him to be ridden with a little more restraint. The early stages could be crucial from his stall 16 draw but hopefully Moore can settle him in just behind the leaders. He certainly looked progressive in his previous race when winning a valuable race on the all-weather at Kempton and I would expect him to go off shorter than the early 5-1.
Dangers include Luca Cumani’s Rockalong who chased home Brownsea Brink at Newmarket and Levitate who was part of Oisin Murphy’s four-timer at Ayr last month. The young apprentice is being carefully managed by Andrew Balding in the hope that he will derive as much benefit as possible from his 5lb claim. He gave us a winner last week with a fine ride on Ballinderry Boy and could be back in the headlines on Friday with five booked rides.
Dungannon could certainly go close in the sprint at 2.30 following victories at Ascot and Haydock. Despite being up 5lbs for his latest win, there is every prospect of the six-year-old improving again. Unusually for a horse that had won his previous outing, Dungannon wore blinkers for the first time at Haydock and won more impressively than at Ascot. It could be that he still has another victory in him and he looks good value at 7-1 or thereabouts.
Murphy rides Van Percy for Balding in the 4.15 but this one looks tricky to win with. He scraped home at Haydock in the summer but generally does not find a great deal off the bridle. It would not surprise me to see him coasting up to the leaders early in the straight but I’d rather invest in Luca Cumani’s Elhaame. He ran well in a decent race at Ascot last time, his first attempt at this trip. He could still be improving and 5-1 looks a reasonable bet on a typically competitive end of season card.
Dungannon (2.30 York) 7-1 Ladbrokes
Graphic 5-1 (3.05 York) 5-1 Ladbrokes
Elhaame 5-1 (4.15 York) 5-1 William Hill, Bet365
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