Neil Morrice brings us all of his best bets and tips for Wednesday’s racing taking place at Day 4 of the York Ebor Festival, including video analysis. He also gives his top picks for the racing action at Sandown Park, Uttoxeter, and Chelmsford City!
YORK EBOR FESTIVAL DAY FOUR BEST BETS
Race 1: SKY BET AND SYMPHONY GROUP STRENSALL STAKES
(Group 3)
No5 – LORD GLITTERS
Trainer: David O’Meara – Jockey: Danny Tudhope
Winner of an identical race here two years ago, LORD GLITTERS should outclass his foes if as good as he’s been in two outings so far this season. The veteran was a shock winner of the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last year, and has competed at or close to the top-level ever since. His fourth to Mohaather in the Summer Mile and third behind Aspetar here last month suggest he might not be as good as he was, but too good for today’s opposition.
Race 2: No7 – KIPPS
Trainer: Hughie Morrison – Jockey: Ryan Moore
When beaten half a length by Hukum in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot KIPPS was considered by many to be an unlucky loser, as he looked far from resolute when going to the front. He’s subsequently been beaten into fourth by Zabeel Champion at the Newmarket July meeting when wearing first-time blinkers under Moore. For me, he saw way too much daylight and in selecting him for this Melrose Handicap I hope he gets a lot more cover before arriving late on the scene.
Race 3: SKY BET CITY OF YORK STAKES (Group 2)
No7 – ONE MASTER (Nap)
Trainer: William Haggas – Jockey: Tom Marquand
At long last ONE MASTER will encounter ground with the word ‘soft’ in it, and that’s music to the ears of this admirable mare’s followers. This season she’s been campaigned at the top level, finishing sixth to Hello Youmzain in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Ascot; fourth to Nazeef in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket and getting up in the final stride to nail Valeria Messalina in the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes at Goodwood. Now she will have conditions to suit and can stave off strong opposition from Safe Voyage, Escobar, and threat en route to another tilt at Longchamp’s Prix de la Foret.
Race 4: SKY BET EBOR HANDICAP
No3 – TRUESHAN (Each Way)
Trainer: Alan King – Jockey: Martin Harley
Few handicaps have been won as decisively as that taken out by Fujairah Prince at Royal Ascot, and the grey has dominated the market for this betting extravaganza ever since. Alert to the fact that he doesn’t stand too much racing, his trainer is taking a selective approach to the gelding’s races and will have him at concert pitch today. The Ebor traditionally holds rank as the most valuable handicap run in Europe, and though the prize money levels have dropped because of the effects on the industry of the COVID-19 epidemic, it remains a prize to savour and the one that stands out for me is TRUESHAN. With a pedigree stacked with French influence, there’s little wonder Trueshan enjoys getting his feet into the ground. He rounded-off a successful 2019 campaign with a game victory over the smart Hamish at Newbury that clinched him a fourth success from only five outings and has looked just as good in his two outings this year. He was far from disgraced in the Listed race won by Dashing Willoughby at Newmarket and struck at that level when short-heading Alignak at the same level at Haydock. Verdana Blue is always feared when running on the Flat and did nothing wrong when chasing home Trueeshan’s stablemate Coeur de Lion in the Ascot Stakes. However, in contrast to the selection, she could do with the going drying up. Granted William Haggas’s affinity for saddling winners at this meeting Pablo Escobar must also be afforded abundant respect. The Galileo gelding took out a Group 3 to get off the mark for the season at Goodwood and you fancy has been trained with this contest in mind all year. Stablemate Monica Sheriff is a fascinating addition to the field after going through last season unbeaten in four starts including a Group 3 at Saint-Cloud run in heavy. Interestingly she made a belated entrance to the stage, reappearing in a Ffos Las novice around this time. Ranch Hand is lightly-raced and more than capable of having a say at a big price, while the Willie Mullins-trained True Self needs a market check after defeats in a Group 1 at the Curragh and Group 3 at Cork.
Prediction
1st TRUESHAN
2nd Fujaira Prince
3rd Verdana Blue
4th Pablo Escobar
5th True Self
6th Monica Sheriff
Race 6: No5 – MAYDANNY
Trainer: Mark Johnston – Jockey: Jim Crowley
Few big handicaps have been won with the authority displayed by MAYDANNY at Glorious Goodwood. His five lengths defeat of stablemate Sky Defender was poetry in motion to those that had supported him into favourite. Competing from his revised mark the free going son of Dubawi May have too many guns for John Smith’s Cup hero Sinjaari and the mercurial Derevo, who rarely seems to reproduce the level of form on the track that he displays at home. It makes him a risky proposition, and the joker in the pack.
SANDOWN PARK
Race 3: No8 – NEW CHAPTER
Trainer: William Haggas – Jockey: James Doyle
The impeccably bred NEW CHAPTER looks to hold scope for a fair amount of improvement on this fourth career start and first in a handicap. He needed to buckle down to make sure of it when opening his account at Ayr but that will have helped educate him for this much more competitive heat.
Race 6: No1 – QUEEN’S COURSE (Nap)
Trainer: David O’Meara – Jockey: Kieren Shoemark
Gleneagles filly QUEEN’S COURSE makes the long journey from Yorkshire and I sense it’s not just for the sake of her health. She was a most impressive scorer at Doncaster last week, has come out of it well, and can defy a penalty on the way to better things.
UTTOXETER
Race 1: No2 – MISS FARAGE (Nap)
Trainer: Nicky Henderson – Jockey: Nico de Boinville
MISS FARAGE has been a well-backed winner of a bumper and maiden hurdle since racing resumed, and with her aptitude, for jumping as strong she has a great chance of completing a hat-trick for her top connections.
Race 4: No4 – SKYLANNA BREEZE
Trainer: Jonjo O’Neill – Jockey: Jonjo O’Neill Jr
SKYLANNA BREEZE looked to score with plenty up her sleeve when returning to action in a similar race at Southwell. She reacted positively to the fitting of cheekpieces and looked good value for her margin of victory over Molliana. She appears to have progressed from last season and should take plenty of stopping.
Race 8: No5 – KINGS TEMPTATION
Trainer: Ben Case – Jockey: Kieran Woods
Having done us a couple of favours, KINGS TEMPTATION can defy another rise in the ratings to complete a fine hat-trick. Both those successes were achieved at this course, which suits his prominent racing style and bold jumping.
CHELMSFORD CITY
Race 6: No10 – NEVER ALONE
Trainer: Charlie Appleby – Jockey: Adam Kirby
This is a competitive all-aged handicap but NEVER ALONE has looked a better horse since being equipped with blinkers, scoring twice at Wolverhampton and showing plenty of determination to get home by a head on his handicap debut there The Dubawi gelding can get the better of Yuri Gagarin, who slightly lost his way after a promising start to the campaign.
Race 7: No12 – SOCIETY LION (Nap)
Trainer, Sir Michael Stoute – Jockey: Pat Dobbs
This is a cracking handicap that should see SOCIETY LION further bolstering his status as a horse on the up and up. The Invincible Spirit colt showed how unlucky
he’d been when beaten at Haydock by overcoming a far from clean trip at Glorious Goodwood, where his class saw him home. If settling better in this big field, he is capable of producing an even better performance.
