I absolutely love York’s Ebor Festival! It’s one of the great week’s flat racing every summer with incredible crowds and brilliant action on the track and this week looks no different. My last trip to York heralded a treble, so let’s hope I have similar luck this week. I only have one ride today but I will be back here on Friday, all being well.
3:00 Great Voltigeur Stakes – Kemari
This is usually a very telling trial for the final Classic of the season, the St Leger at Doncaster next month. There are a handful of eye-catching entries here with one time Derby favourite High Definition at the top of the market. He ran well on his comeback this season here finishing third in the Dante. He disappointed in the Irish Derby but should be better than that performance. I’m siding with Godolphin’s KEMARI (4/1) here, though. Godolphin have such a strong group of three-year-olds and this colt looks highly progressive and a thorough stayer.
3:35 Juddmonte International – Alcohol Free
This is a race that usually proves the best middle-distance race of the season and, despite St Mark’s Basilica’s absence, it is still a high-quality field. Last year’s Oak’s winner Love was slightly below par in the King George when finishing third behind Adayar and Mishriff and has to bounce back from that. Mishriff is the yardstick here and if he can match that run at Ascot then he is probably the one to beat. I’m willing to give a chance to the filly ALCOHOL FREE (9/2) who was very impressive in the Sussex Stakes. She is a questionable stayer but if Oisin can settle her, then I think she could be hard to beat given the three-year-old filly allowance that she receives.
5:20 Sky Bet Nursery – Mercurial
MERCURIAL (66/1) is my one ride today for Tom Dascombe. I won on him back in May at Chester and he has been slightly disappointing in his last two starts when finishing third both times. He has been gelded since which could bring out some improvement in him. This is a highly competitive race and he’ll need to step up to go close but it’s not out of the question.
Stay safe,
Hayley!
(*All odds shown were correct at time of writing.)