EP: 225 York Ebor Festival – Friday August 24, 2023 Friday is a day for the sprinters at York as some of the best horses in Europe line up in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes over the straight 5 Furlong course. York Racecourse Chief Executive, William Derby discusses the importance of today’s feature race in York’s racing calendar. City AM Racing editor Bill Esdaile previews [...]
Ross can boss fillies in open looking Oaks August 23, 2023 OF ALL the Group One contests on the Knavesmire this week, today’s Yorkshire Oaks (3.35pm) actually looks the most competitive. The last six winners have all returned at odds of 7/4 or shorter, including four at odds-on in that time, while this year’s betting is headed by a 4/1-shot in the shape of Savethelastdance. The [...]
Back Express to impress again at York August 23, 2023 YORK is a bit like marmite for some horses as they either love it or hate it. Time and time again we see the same horses winning on the Knavesmire, quite often when they are hopelessly out of form. This doesn’t make life easy for punters, but I’m hoping the theory of following course form [...]
Diamond a Beautiful bet to give Burke another Lowther August 23, 2023 ONLY one market leader has obliged in the last eight runnings of today’s Lowther Stakes (1.50pm), a six-furlong Group Two for juvenile fillies. Karl Burke has been successful twice in the last four years, both with double-figure priced contenders, and his BEAUTIFUL DIAMOND looks a great each-way bet to land the hat-trick. Very impressive on [...]
Moracana can strike in Galtres for Lavery and the Irish August 23, 2023 IRISH-trained runners have done well in the Sir Henry Cecil Galtres Stakes (4.10pm) in recent years, winning two of the last four renewals and I fancy they could add another success today. After 11 career starts, Sheila Lavery’s MORACANA doesn’t have the scope for progression of some of her more lightly raced rivals, but she [...]
EP: 224 York Ebor Festival – Thursday August 22, 2023 Day two of the York Ebor Festival on Thursday is Ladies Day and the Group 1 mile and a half Yorkshire Oaks is the highlight of the afternoon’s action. York Racecourse Chief Executive, William Derby tells us all about Ladies Day on the Knavesmire. City AM Racing editor Bill Esdaile previews the best of Thursday’s [...]
Fantastic Foxes looks the bet for Juddmonte upset August 22, 2023 ALL EYES will be on Paddington as he bids to land a fifth consecutive Group One in the Juddmonte International Stakes (3.35pm), the feature race on the opening day of York’s four-day Ebor meeting. Only three weeks have passed since he sloshed his way through the mud to add Goodwood’s Sussex Stakes to his Irish [...]
Ballymount to be the Boy in the Acomb August 22, 2023 The Group Three Acomb Stakes (2.25pm) has broken up a bit, with only six runners left in the field and not much depth among them. Adrian Keatley’s BALLYMOUNT BOY looks increasingly difficult to oppose, having placed second by just a length to Vandeek – who became a Group One winner in France last weekend – [...]
Back Ryan’s Bergerac to start Ebor meeting with a bang August 22, 2023 KEVIN Ryan often does well when targeting sprints at York and won this race (1.50pm) last year with BERGERAC, who showed serious speed to break from stall two and lead against the far side rail. That’s a sore point for me, as he edged out my own King Of Stars in a head-bobbing finish, but [...]
Tronador entitled to Max respect in Stayers Handicap August 22, 2023 IT QUITE often pays to follow National Hunt trainers in the big staying handicaps on the Flat. Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson regularly win races like the Cesarewitch at Newmarket and Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot, and another leading Jumps handler looks to have a big chance of winning the Stayers Handicap (4.10pm) today. [...]