David Morgan
York as a top class venue deserves all the glowing spotlight it can get but it’s debatable whether the British programme needed another Group 1 race added to it, even in the neglected seven furlong bracket, a distance that falls into the crack between the top sprinters and the classic milers. This first edition of the City Of York Stakes as an elite race does at least afford Rosallion a chance to put behind him a couple of narrow defeats to unheralded outsiders.
Rosallion was seen as a prime candidate for champion miler honours at the season’s outset and Richard Hannon’s stable star undoubtedly adds glamour to what otherwise is, realistically, a good Group 2, on paper. That being so, the City Of York now shapes as a pivotal contest for him: victory would put him back on track, defeat would turn a frustrating campaign into a disappointment. Sean Levey will be looking to utilise his colt’s sharp turn of foot and this distance could turn out to be his optimum.
There are other Group 1 winners in the field, of course: Audience was a shock winner of the Lockinge Stakes last year and Qirat out-wowed even that result when the 150/1 winner of the Sussex Stakes last time at Rosallion’s expense. Then there’s Lake Forest who won the lucrative Golden Eagle in Sydney last year, while Never So Brave is a four-year-old on the up.
The pick of the three-year-olds might be the French raider Maranoa Castle, runner-up in the G1 Prix Jean Prat last time behind Woodshauna who went on to place third in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest.
NAP: R3 #7 Rosallion
Jack Dawling
After two near misses at Ascot, Bullet Point finally got his hands on a big handicap win in Thursday’s Clipper Handicap (1600m) and returns to the Knavesmire after less than 48 hours to have his first crack at Group level in the G3 Strensall Stakes (1800m).
The Advertise gelding kept on well under 138 pounds in the Clipper Handicap to fend off a bunch of battle-hardened handicappers and gets the chance to assert himself in this higher grade before heading down to Australia for William Haggas.
He faces the likes of King’s Gambit, who hit the line powerfully in the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot, while Gladius appears highly progressive for the Andrew Balding yard. King’s Gambit will look to get prominent owners Wathnan racing on the board at York this week 35 minutes before Sea Of Kings looks to break his maiden in the Melrose Handicap for three-year-olds.
The Harry Eustace-trained son of Sea The Stars has shown plenty of promise in his four runs and gets the chance to capitalise on his mark of 83.
NAP: R3 #4 Never So Brave
Andrew Hawkins
The Ebor Handicap may not have stakes status, but it is one of the most watched British races globally given it offers a ticket to Australia’s most famous race, the Melbourne Cup. As always, it appears a competitive race at the weights but it is a puzzle that is often deciphered by punters: the last nine winners have been 16/1 or shorter.
The former Polish horse Hipop De Loire was desperately unlucky last year and struggled for clear running in the final furlong. The Willie Mullins trainee has only had two runs since and lines up having won a maiden hurdle at Galway by 11 lengths last start. He appeals as the most likely to take the ballot-exempt spot at Flemington in November. Colin Keane, who rode Hipop de Loire last year, will once again link up with him.
French Master, dropping back from the G1 Goodwood Cup, has to carry 9st 12lb if he is to take victory. Only one horse, the mighty two-time champion hurdler Sea Pigeon, has won the Ebor with more than 9st 9lb – he carried 10 stone in 1979 – but every winner bar one between 2018 and 2024 carried between 9st 5lb and 9st 9lb. It may not be as big a task for the Royal Ascot winner as it seems. ∎
NAP: R4 #2 Hipop De Loire
