Viking Victories Day 1 - 16 May

The first day of the York Dante meeting and it looks as though we may be in for some good racing on good ground at last!  

Those in touch with (and also those hiding under rocks because there has been no escape) may have noticed the name Brooks in the papers recently.  Rebekah and her "renowned racehorse trainer" (according to the Mail!) husband are a tad peeved at "being turned into scapegoats" apparently and have been venting their anger to all and sundry!  I keep reading and hearing about this here "renowned racehorse trainer" but despite daily form and racecard study, his extensive string of runners has so far eluded me so I thought I would research where he has been running them....Jamaica, Barbados, Mongolia, Iceland?  Nope!  His extensive stable runs to six horses - three of which are owned by himself, T Lacey and the Pudlicote Partnership (could this be himself, wife, David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson?!) and none of which have ever won more than a couple of hundred in prize money which all rather smacks of giving the little chap something to do!   One of these six horses in training is named Harris (cost a respectable £20K) and holds four entries to various bumpers over the next few days and another (Cavite Gamma £9K) holds an entry into a novice chase at Stratford on Sunday.......now I just need to teach my cat to bark and dance and I shall call myself the winner of Britain's Got Talent!

Back to proper horseracing now and York!  I've put my shortlists below each review/thoughts and will be on each way in most cases...


13:30 I've noted that you need to concentrate on runners drawn mid to high and that have been progressively improving their placings...(e.g. 8-5-3) in 10f races at York and the only one in the field that ticks these two boxes is Area Fifty One - who belongs to that collector of northern races, Dr Marwan Koukash.  I admit to a soft spot for Space War who I saw win his maiden at Newmarket but who sadly had never gone on to fulfil his initial potential and since left John Gosden for Mick Easterby (big handicap race king). I've vowed to keep away from Cumani's runners first time out this season so this removes Kirthill.  The one who appears at the top of my tissue though is Flag Officer and while I have no qualms about selecting a bin Suroor runner coming back to the track after nigh on a year but my misgivings lie with the jockey!  Frankie's flying dismount has been noticeably absent lately ..... but the winners he has ridden have  all been for Godolphin so I am tempted to put my reservations to one side.  However,it should be noted that bin Suroor has said that Flag Officer will improve from the run and that he is also entered into the Jorvik Stakes on Friday so it may be carrying my £££s only if available at an each way price.  One who I think will do well at a price is Right Step.  Alan Jarvis has a good record here at York and Jim Crowley who won on him at Epsom last time out is coming here for the one ride.

• Flag Officer UP (Pulled Up) 4/1 f
• Right Step UP (10th) 9/1
• Area Fifty One  UP (8th) 10/1

14:00  Only two favourites have won this in the past 10 years and they were joint fav and co-fav and only one 7yo (none over this age) has won during this time which bodes not well for Baby Strange.  New Planet looks interesting in that like Right Step in the previous race, he is partnered by the jockey who teamed up with him to win last time out, Tom Queally who takes just the one ride today.  He has course (although this isn't at all important here - it's probably the fairest track in Britain), distance and going form with a good (high) draw too!  The one I like most for this though is Instance who is lightly raced, both trainer and jockey (Noseda/Buick) both have excellent strike rates here and has a good draw to boot.  

• Instance  UP (15th) 14/1
• New Planet  UP (13th) 12/1

14:30  It really is difficult to look beyond Twirl in this but (as for the first) the one glaring stat in this (10f) race is the frequency of an ‘improving position’ horse but the only runner in the field to tick this box is Aniseed - a 40/1 chance whose last run was in a class 5 at Wolverhampton and whose only redeeming feature (that I can find) is William Haggas’s record with 3yo here (4-17) …and her sale price of 60K!  Aniseed’s Oaks (currently 100/1) entry along with her Ribblesdale entry looks optimistic to say the least and her Thirsk maiden entry for next week may be more realistic!  Twirl is a Galileo filly also with an Oaks entry and who seemed to be in need of the extra couple of furlongs when last seen.  The other pair that have warranted any time spent on them are The Fugue who wasn’t totally disgraced in fourth position in the 1000 Guineas and Good Morning Star (no Oaks entry) who is more exposed than most but has proven stamina for the distance and may just fall short of the class required…but you never know with a Johnston runner! Twirl seems value at just a shade under evens.

•      Twirl  2nd 5/6f
•      The Fugue  1st 15/8

….and perhaps 50p each way on Aniseed for the hell (and stats) of it!!

15:00  The money has been steadily flowing towards Hoof It these past few days to such an extent that any value is gone.  He did win on his seasonal reappearance at this meeting last year so we know he can go well fresh BUT HE HAS NEVER WON A GROUP RACE or indeed anything other than a handicap which makes the 4/1 currently on offer look stingy – although this doesn’t mean he won’t win of course (he comes top of my tissue) but he just won’t be carrying my £££s (no value)!  Society Rock on the other hand has won a group 1 and is available at double figures – mainly due to his poor form at the end of last season but I have an inkling that a certain jockey might be hell bent on gaining revenge for being jocked off Hoof It.  It’s been some while since a 3yo has won this race so I’ve discounted Bannock, Bogart and Restiadargent.  Eve Johnson Houghton doesn’t run many of hers at York but when she does, her win rate is 2 from 5 and she runs The Cheka today.  However he’ll have to improve massively again to win from his current mark but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.  Mayson is very interesting but all his wins have been right handed. 

• Hoof It (but he can win without my £££S) 
• UP (5th) 2/1f
• The Cheka 2nd 9/1
• Society Rock 3rd 8/1

15:30  Tim Easterby has won this race twice in the past 5 years and I do love his capacity for targetting (and winning) big field handicaps at the important meetings – there’s a trainer who knows how to keep his owners happy!  He is fielding Bollin Felix and The Fun Crusher in this race with The Fun Crusher the stable number one…..Bollin Felix hasn’t been seen on a racecourse since May 2011 and is owned by one Mrs Sarah Easterby by the way!  Mika Mica is one of only a handful with recent form but he has a not great draw and would prefer some rain.  Mulaqen is very lightly races and interesting - again, he has a low draw which isn't perfect.  It might be worth noting that the past 5 winners of this race were (very lucky in running and/or with talented jockeys!) hold up horses and the majority from high draws! This had me looking more closely at Eagle Rock, Tartan Gigha The Fun Crusher and Swinging Hawk (who is incidentally part owned by Lee Westwood of Hoof It ownership) and it is the last three who are of most interest at each way prices.  

• The Fun Crusher 
• UP (10th) 4/1f
• Tartan Gigha 
• UP (16th) 33/1
• Swinging Hawk 
• 4th  33/1

...and perhaps 50p each way on Bollin Felix (14th) because I'm intrigued!

16:10  You can never ignore a Hannon 2yo and Citius is a very classy (and expensive) colt but Richard Fahey has a better win ratio with his 2yos here than Hannon does (it surprised me too!) so this adds to the appeal of Tatlisu.  All the runners in this field come with their own jockeys!  That is, the only jockey who has race ridden them previously (in most cases only once) is on board today so they’ll know them and of them all, Paul Hanagan does best with his 2yo rides here…if it seems I’m grasping at straws here then I am – not a lot to go on – so more appeal added to Tatlisu who also happens to come out top of my sheet/tissue.  Citius seems a good price for an each way pop so I’ll be on these two.

• Tatlisu 
• UP (4th) 9/4f
• Citius 
• UP (7th) 7/1

 

16:45  And on to the last cavalry charge of the day!  Over 7f at York, the jockey is more important than at any other distance and the top four in this race (3yo only) are Hughsie (Three Am Tour), Ryan (Intuition), Frank (Parc De Launay) and SDS (Kinloch Castle).  On overall figures (2yo, 3yo, 4yo+) you can add Frankie (Grizzle) and Fallon (Van Der Art) to this list and these are the six I’ll concentrate on (well this race is a lottery so I’ve picked six!).  From this shortlist, I am narrowing down the field further to a low draw (trust me on this!) so this discounts Grizzle.  Three Am Tour had a nice close second just 10 days ago and should be primed, Van Der Art also had a seasonal warm up on ground that would have been softer than ideal and Parc De Launay has been contesting class 2 while giving a hint that the step up may suit so these make my final three!

• Three Am Tour 3rd 8/1
• Van Der Art 2nd 10/1
• Parc De Launay 
• UP (9th) 16/1