Our form expert has three selections for day three of York’s Dante Festival and he thinks we could have a back-to-back winner of the Yorkshire Cup.
The Verdict: Friday, May 17
1pt win Magic Mild in 2.15 York at 10/1 (BetVictor, Coral)
1pt win Bellarchi in 3.15 York at 10/1 (General)
1pt win Giavellotto in 3.45 York at 7/1 (General)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook
Grab a ‘Lotto ticket in Yorkshire Cup
The Group 2 Boodles Yorkshire Cup Stakes is the Friday feature on the final day of York’s Dante Festival and it’s a fascinating race with Aidan O’Brien’s Tower Of London and Willie Mullins’ Vauban in attendance.
The former has improved in the winter out in Meydan and looks to be O’Brien’s main Cup horse for the season ahead, while Vauban makes his first outing since his disappointing defeat in the Melbourne Cup last November.
All roads could lead to Flemington once again for the Mullins horse and he’s entitled to be rusty after six months off, while Tower Of London improved for going out in trip to two miles in Dubai and he could get done for speed on this track.
With all that in mind, last year’s winner GIAVELLOTTO looks the bet at 15/2 against the Irish-trained pair, Marco Botti’s horse travelling particularly well in this contest 12 months ago on his way to a half-length success over subsequent Group 1 winner Eldar Eldarov.
He looks versatile between 1m6f and two miles, but crucially has the gears to cope with this distance at this track, unlike plenty of stayers who have lacked some vital pace in this contest over the years.
Last August he confirmed his liking for York with a good third in the Lonsdale Cup won by smart stayer Coltrane over two miles, while he’s been running well internationally himself in the winter behind the aforementioned Tower Of London.
On his last start he gave the O’Brien horse 6lb and was beaten just under four lengths, a result connections will have been delighted with considering he raced keenly off a muddling gallop over two miles.
This could be tactical, as well, but I like the booking of Oisin Murphy for Giavellotto, a jockey with a great positional sense as we have already seen many times on the Knavesmire, including earlier this week.
The Verdict: Back GIAVELLOTTO in the 3.45 York
Magic chance in the Marygate
The handicaps look tricky on Friday and I’d rather take a punt on Clive Cox’s MAGIC MILD in the opening Clipper EBF Marygate Fillies’ Stakes over five furlongs.
This horse has to reverse first-time out Newmarket form with Hugo Palmer’s It Ain’t Too, but she can do, as she raced a little keenly at HQ and I think she can come on significantly for that run.
Cox is a master with a speedy juvenile and they often improve second time, his strike-rate with second-time out juveniles over five furlongs a very healthy 28.41%, compared to 16% on their debuts.
This filly ran well at Newmarket, finishing a close-up third, and the form looks red-hot with the fourth, Seraphim Angel (also runs here) coming out and winning the Lily Agnes, while the sixth, Miss Rascal, won by three lengths at Ascot.
It’s interesting Cox has booked Jim Crowley for the job, as he’s started to do that with a selection of his two-year-olds, the pair teaming up with Jasour to win the July Stakes last summer.
He looks to be on another good one here and Magic Mild is taken to win a second Marygate for Cox following on from Beldale Memory in 2013.
The Verdict: Back MAGIC MILD in the 2.15 York
Don’t underestimate tough Bellarchi
Finally, I’m going to take a punt on Grant Tuer’s BELLARCHI in the Listed Sky Bet Fillies’ Stakes over a mile.
There are two or three unexposed fillies to take on here, with Devoted Queen and True Cyan sticking out in that respect, but the market has cottoned onto them and Bellarchi looks somewhat underrated at 10/1.
The daughter of Mehmas has had almost as many runs as the rest of the field put together, running on 14 occasions as a juvenile, while she’s already been out four times this year, but she is thriving on racing.
Indeed, she posted a career-best at Ascot last time when cosily winning a very good fillies’ handicap on her first go at a mile, a race that had a handful of potential stakes winners in it and older ones at that.
I thought it was a terrific effort from Bellarchi against her elders and she could put that experience to very good use back against her own age group.
That race was just six days ago, but Tuer has an encouraging 21.84% strike-rate when his horses are backing up within a week and this filly, rated 91, doesn’t have much to find with the market leaders at all.
The Verdict: Back Bellarchi in the 3.15 York
Preview posted at 1515 BST on 16/05/2024
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