A full look at Day 1 of the York Dante Festival./
14:15 - Chillingham 8/1 1pt ew
There is no doubt the first race at York this year is a competitive one. It is easy to see why Marhaba The Champ and Klondike head the market, with the former 2 from 2 at York and the latter a potential class angle in to the race. However, there is no juice in either of their prices for my liking.
I can see some juice in the price of one though and that is Chillingham, who looks a fair price at anything 15/2 and above. He hasn’t won on any of his last 7 starts, however he has ran some cracking races in defeat, notably when 4th to Vauban at Royal Ascot and when 2nd to Prydwen at Wolverhampton, that rival has won twice since and is 14lb higher.
Ed Bethell has fitted cheekpieces for the first time (record of 3-32 not a big pointer) with the hope of a bit more improvement, and with race fitness on his side, along with a good draw in box 3 in a race which lacks pace, I expect him to be involved at the business end here.
14:45 - Great Ambassador 14/1 1pt ew
- Dakota Gold 20/1 0.5pt ew
This is the type of race where all of these horses will win throughout the season, but I think that is worth taking a dart at a couple who are very well treated if retaining some of their ability.
Those are Great Ambassador and Dakota Gold.
The latter has been fragile throughout his career, with this only due to be his 20th start despite being 7. It may seem a while since he was on a roll and going off favourite for heritage handicaps like the Ayr Gold Cup, but I am hoping the fire still rumbles. He made his return off after 20 months off at Newmarket last month, taking the eye with how strongly he travelled. He seemed to take a false step there when about to get into it before being tenderly handled by Tom Marquand.
The handicapper has dropped him 3lb for that run, that follows a 6lb drop just for his lay off. That makes him run off a mark of just 97 which could prove incredibly lenient, especially as all conditions are in his favour today, with a likely strong pace and a track that should play to his strengths.
My other dart is with Dakota Gold, who in fairness has shown to have lost some of his old spark, however it may have been the plan to get him back to his favourite track on a good mark.
He is now off a mark of 84, 16lb lower than his last winning mark, 20lb lower than when finishing 7th in this race last year. He seems to still have good gate speed and showed up well at Donny for a while last time out, so hopefully he can be rejuvenated by the Knavesmire today.
15:15 - Montassib 7/1 1pt ew
William Haggas will have had this race in mind for a while for Montassib, especially after his impressive performance in the Cammidge to open up his campaign. That enhanced his record over 6f to 3 wins from 4 attempts, with the only defeat when having trouble in running at Ayr.
He seems to enjoy going past horses and a strongly run 6f at York clearly suits so I see both reason why he won’t run a big race today despite going in to a Group 2 where he has a bit to find on ratings. Any rain that falls would be in his favour as well and he looks a solid each way bet at odds of around 7/1.
15:45 - No bet
Although I was very impressed with Friendly Soul last week when she beat the extremely well backed Kalpana, I will be letting her win at morning odds of around 5/6. There are potential improvers in here, for all they will need to improve to get to that level of form showed
16:15 & 16:45 - No bet
The 16:15, 7f handicap looks at the mercy of the top of the market in my opinion, with Fire Demon probably my fancy if forced to bet, he should suit the step up in trip. Elmonjed clearly has lots of scope to go on but the odds reflect that.
The 16:45 is a guessing game to me and I won’t be touching that.
17:20 - Asgards Captain 10/1 0.5pt ew
Dylan Cunha is a trainer I hold in high regard and Asgards Captain has been a real showcase of his skills, improving him 21lb since the purchase. I thought he ran a big race at Windsor last time, really sticking to the task well. This run can be marked up too considering the yard form at the time of that run.
He has shaped like a stiffer task may suit and hopefully that can eek out some more improvement today in what is a very competitive race, making him a bet at double-digit odds.
Wahraan is a huge danger if he breaks well, and Dark Moon Rising is handicapped to go well too.
Comentarios