Friday 23rd August 2019

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Author: Jordan Yates

Image: Jordan Yates

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Day Three of the Ebor Festival once again kicks off at 1:55pm and once again it’s a very competitive handicap that gets us underway in the form of the Class 2 Sky Bet Handicap. This race is contested over a distance of a mile and four furlongs and the horse I like here is Ian Williams’ MANDARIN who’s a general 9/1 chance in the betting. He was a close up third at the Shergar Cup the last day and has already won at both Newmarket and Windsor this season. He looks as though there still could be more progression in him and he arrives here a big player in my opinion. There’s several that were on my shortlist for this affair and these include the likes of Caradoc, Eynhallow and Speed Company who I believe can all play a meaningful part.

EACH WAY: MANDARIN (9/1)

Moving onto the second race of the afternoon which takes place at 2:25 and this is the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup which is a race for the stayers. In this particular affairs it’s hard to envisage anything other than a STRADIVARIUS win as he goes for the million pound bonus for the second successive season. He’s proved himself as the best stayer we’ve seen for some time over the last couple of seasons and it should be a straight forward success for him here. Old rival Dee Ex Bee looks to be the chief rival alongside Dermot Weld’s Falcon Eight.

WIN: STRADIVARIUS (4/9)

Race number three is at 3.00 and comes in the form of the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes which is contested over six furlongs. My idea of the winner in this year’s renewal comes in the form of Richard Hannon trained THREAT who currently sits at the top of the market at a best priced of 7/4. He was an impressive maiden winner and has since gone on to finish second in the both the Coventry Stakes and the Richmond Stakes. That’s the strongest form on offer here and it would be disappointing should he not put on a bold performance with Oisin Murphy now in the saddle. A couple to note who should go well are Spartan Fighter who has strong novice form and also won at the course the last day. Also Kevin Ryan’s Repartee who fits a similar profile to last year’s winner Emaraaty Ana.

WIN: THREAT (7/4)

The feature race of the day once again is set to take place at 3.35 and today this is the famous Group 1 sprint that is the Nunthorpe Stakes which has seen an illustrious back catalogue of winners throughout the years.  Battaash has contested the race on a couple of occasions now with no luck but Charlie Hills top sprinter is back again for more after another impressive Goodwood victory and will be prominent in the betting once more. I find it hard to get away from TEN SOVEREIGNS here for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore. Dropped back down to sprinting trips following a spell at a mile proved somewhat of a revelation when he destroyed the field in the July Cup last time out and if turning up in that kind of form again here he will be very tough to get the better of.  Mabs Cross is another who will be prominent in the betting throughout the day and will be a very popular each way selections with punters. It’s likely that she will run her race as she so often does.

WIN: TEN SOVEREIGNS (13/8)

Following the feature at 4.15 is a Class 2 Maiden race which looks to have a few potentially smart sorts in for the future. It’s likely that Molatham will be popular with punters with his second placed effort behind Mum’s Tipple on debut getting a huge form boost here yesterday. However I’ve sided with the King Power runner here that is FOX DUTY FREE for Andrew Balding and Silvestre De Sousa. He cost 280,000 as a yearling and ran a solid race in third on debut despite having issues leaving the stalls. It’s likely there’s considerable progression to come from that and he could show that here.

WIN: FOX DUTY FREE (7/2)