York Day Two

A good 10/1 win for the blog today to continue the winning streak !

Both sprint races were won by horses coming from stall 18 today. Although both were held up, you couldn't say that either used the draw to win and I think that was more down to coincidence than anything else.

Society Rock's time was only 1.04 seconds outside standard so the rain didn't have as much influence on the going as most people may have thought.

Onto tomorrow and in the 3.50 Richard Fahey's Polski Max has shown improved form over his last few runs and his latest effort was a good performance on speed figures it would seem. The second and third reoppose and this time they will all be on the same weight, albeit Smoothtalkinrascal will have the benefit of the excellent Daniel Tudhope.
However Polski Max's trainer doesn't seem so confident about his chances commenting "It would help Polski Max if the ground turned up heavy. I just worry that five furlongs at York would be sharp enough for him but he's started the season very well". Well it's highly unlikely to turn up heavy as there doesnt look like being much rain about now. He performed well enough on Good to Soft at Pontefract, however that was over 6f and Pontefract is also a stiff track.
With all that in mind I would be inclined to go for Smootalkinrascal at 9/2 on this occasion although I'm not as confident about a win as I was about Society Rock.

The first race at York , the Class 2 5f Handicap looks very open and Cheworee, Bedloe's Island, Kingsgate Choice and Goldream  look the ones to be concentrating on to me and Silvestre De Sousa looks an interesting jockey booking for the O'Meara stable - Bedloe's Island.
Stone Of Folca is the obvious leader in stall 11 and may even hold out as he won the dash at Epsom.....so it may pay to be drawn close to him and last time out winner Bedloe's Island (14) and Goldream (15),  trained by the up and coming sprint expert Robert Cowell, could be the ones to watch out for with the latter at an ew price of 16/1.

I will be away from Friday morning until Monday so don't expect any reviews over the weekend. On Friday look out for Ninjago at Newbury and on Saturday Mississippi and Kyleakin Lass both run at Thirsk.

Duke of York

Society Rock seems to have all the ingredients to run a big race tomorrow, Group 1 winning form, a good draw and a jockey who is at the top of his game.
The jockey writes in his column for the Weekender: "This horse has to be up for top sprint honours again following his success in the Group 1 Haydock Sprint last year. He is a very versatile horse who was unlucky not to win first time out in this race 12 months ago, but for being stopped when making his move. James’ horses are running better now which is a good sign and if we get the rub of the green mine is the one to beat. Form and statistics both suggest I am right. In the last eight years only one winner has been younger than five, and these two are four. Add to that the desperate record of the fairer sex in this contest and my fellow is the pick. On the pick of form my lad stands out as he is a dual Group 1 winner on soft and firm ground."
Tickled Pink is the new sprinter on the block and Maarek probably prefers easier going so 8/1 for Society Rock is therefore a cracking price and it should be taken asap.

The 2.15 looks to be between York Glory, Mississippi and El Viento with Ryan's York Glory looking the best drawn in 11. He came back to turf form in good fashion last time out at Pontefract and he wont have things so difficult this time from a 4lb higher mark and 7/1 is a fair price.

L'invasion française !

The 3.40 at Longchamp today looks like a sprint in the UK and Ireland with 7 of the 10 runners coming from these shores.

With the going being Good to Soft the fav Maarek looks to be the obvious choice having won over 5f last time out and he predominantly has form on soft going. However most of his form is over 6f and he may be caught out for speed on this track as its a quick five. That point applies to quite a few of the field and if Stepper Point was to build on his run at Newmarket behind Sole Power then he would have an ew chance (16/1) on his previous run at the track although I wont make him a selection as it's a bit of a punt.

Yeeoow !!

In the Class 3 Handicap at Ascot on 7.05 Friday Yeeoow gets the chance to uphold the form of the Doncaster race last month from which Hamza,York Glory and Duke of Firenze have all won since.
He's drawn 1 which might be a negative as high numbers may be favoured, still the draw is not everything and advantages can change easily and that is also overcome by the fact that he is 8/1 and looks to have improvement to come against Class 3 opposition.

David O'Meara is going great guns as is his stable jockey Darren Tudhope and Dick Bos in the 6.55 at Ripon could be ready to strike. Foremerly trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam he won very easily at Windsor last summer and if he shows anything like that here he could be up to winning.

Up a bit, down a bit - 8th May

This week we kick start with the Listed Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Pavilion Stakes over 6f at Ascot on 1st May which was won by Richard Hannon's Ninjago by 1 1/2 lengths to Intibah with a further neck back to Hasopop in 3rd. The winner has been raised 10lb to 105, whilst the 2nd has been put up 11lb to 101 and the 3rd has remained on the same mark of 95. The winning time was fast and was 0.30 secs below standard and Hannon's other runner Tassel was an eyecatcher behind in 7th.

On Saturday 4th May at Goodwood Duke of Firenze won the Class 3 Handicap over 5f by a short head from Kyleakin Lass with 1 1/2 lengths back to Fair Value in third. The winner who has threatened to be better than he has shown has been raised 6lb to 97 and Fallon in his weekender column stated that he won easier than it looked and he looks capable of further progress. The second, a fair sort, has been raised 4lb to 96 whilst the third remains on the same mark of 90.

The Palace House Stakes was won by Sole Power and the BHB Handicapper summed the race up as follows on his blog page :

The most prestigious 5f race of the 2013 season thus far was the Group 3 Pearl Bloodstock Palace House Stakes run at Newmarket on Saturday, writes Chris Nash.

There was a disputed lead and so the pace looked solid. The time of the race was under standard (this was the only race on the card to manage that) and there was no trouble in running. All in all there are reasons to take a positive view of the form and I would hope (and expect) that it will prove reliable over the coming months.

The race was won in tidy fashion by the Irish-trained Sole Power. Edward Lynam’s six-year-old thrives in a well-run 5f race on quick ground and, given his conditions, can usually be relied upon to put in a performance - he won the Nunthorpe (Group 1) in 2010 and last year was second in the Temple Stakes (Group 2) and third in the Kings Stand Stakes (Group 1).

Sole Power arrived with a rating of 113 and I have no reason to doubt that he ran his race again. Kingsgate Native finished a length behind him in second and has run to a figure of 110. This represents a recent best but he’s a dual Group 1 winner going back and was rated as high as 120 after the 2008 Golden Jubilee.

The last-time-out winners Tangerine Trees (pre-race 106) and Heeraat (pre-race 108) finished third and fourth. They were separated by a short-head and finished a length and a quarter behind Kingsgate Native. I have both running to 106 and their presence gives the form further substance. The next 5f pattern race is the Temple Stakes at Haydock on Saturday 25th May and plenty of these will likely renew rivalry there.

On the same afternoon Secretinthepark won the Class 2 Handicap over 6f by 1 1/2 lengths from Brazen with a further 1 1/4 lengths back to Purcell in third. The winner has been raised 7lb to 91, the second 3lb to 85 and the third remains on the same mark of 84.

Over at Thirsk Bedloe's Island, drawn 19, won the Class 4 Handicap over 5f in which 19 went to post, back in second was Angelito (13) and half a length further back in third was veteran Moorhouse Lad (18). The winner has been raised 4lb to 86, the second 3lb to 79 and the third 1lb to 84. Rothesay Chancer (7) did best of the lower drawn horses in 5th and remains on 74.