Neil Morrice brings us all of his best bets and tips for Friday’s racing at the York Ebor Festival, including his feature race analysis. It’s Day three! Let’s find out what’s good on the betting front.
York Undercard Best Bets
Race 1: JAZEEL (8)
Trainer: Jedd O’Keeffe
Jockey: Jamie Spencer
Spencer is just the man to get the best out of JAZEEL in this viciously competitive opener. The selection has shown himself to be progressive since moving to the O’Keeffe yard and didn’t enjoy the rub of the green when a half-length second to Fayez at Goodwood. He will relish the likely strong pace in this, where stablemates Mandarin and Speed Company could give him most to think about.
Race 3: THREAT (14)
Trainer: Richard Hannon
Jockey: Oisin Murphy
The Gimcrack Stakes is a traditional highlight of this meeting and gives THREAT a chance to return to winning ways after finishing second at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. He deserves a Group success and did nothing wrong when caught by Golden Horde in the Richmond Stakes. His stable sent out a scintillating winner in Mums Tipple here yesterday and Threat can show he’s out of the top drawer.
Race 5: CELTIC ART (3)
Trainer: Paul Cole
Jockey: PJ McDonald
Cole often sends his best juveniles to the Knavesmire and CELTIC ART looks worth close inspection under an eyecatching jockey booking. He left his debut form a long way behind when second to Persuasion in a seven furlongs maiden at Goodwood where after being outpaced he stayed on strongly at the finish. He’s worked with aplomb at Whatcombe and can open his account.
York Feature Race Analysis
Clipper Logistics Handicap (Class 2)
The two horses that have dominated the ante post market for this each have questions to answer, but it’s nevertheless hard to think either TEN SOVEREIGNS or BATTAASH won’t land the spoils.
Ten Sovereigns was a top notch two-year-old, his three race unbeaten sequence including the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. However he came back to defeats when favourite for the 2,000 Guineas and the Commonwealth Cup.
A change of tactics served the colt well on his latest outing when, from the front throughout, he powered clear in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket. Now he drops back to five furlongs which isn’t guaranteed to suit him.
The Charles Hills-trained Battaash will attempt to break a hoodoo which has haunted him in this race for the last two seasons. In 2017 the gelding got upset down at the start while last year he faded to finish fourth to MABS CROSS.
Wins in the Temple Stakes at Haydock and the King George Stakes at Goodwood bear testament to the current well being of this lightning fast sprinter whose chance will be elevated if he remains calm at the start. I have a strong feeling that the five-year-old
Mabs Cross went down by a nose in this race 12 months ago and under a new pilot in Gerald Mosse should reverse the placings with SOLDIER’S CALL, whose recent fourth at the Curragh leaves him with plenty to find. GARRUS finished just in front of Soldier’s Call there, and although boasting course and distance winning form at York, still has something to find.
Apart from Ten Sovereigns, Aidan O’Brien also fields FAIRYLAND and SO PERFECT with the former interesting on her July Cup third. She was a dual Group 1 winner as a juvenile, and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Neil Morrice’s Predicted Finish:
1st BATTAASH
2nd Ten Sovereigns
3rd Mabs Cross
4th Fairyland
5th Soldier’s Call
