It is the final day of the Ebor Festival at York on Saturday with the feature race to close off what has been an excellent week with some of the biggest equine stars in the world on show being the Ebor Handicap itself.
All week we have swerved the feature race and focused on the undercard but on Saturday the strategy is completely different and we are focusing solely on the big race itself. There are two runners we like.
3.35 York
Preview
The big race of the week is the Ebor, which continues to be the richest handicap in Europe. A maximum field of 22 go to post & tackle this 1 mile 6 furlongs trip. As always, it looks a hot race & the Irish have a particularly strong hand with 6 of the 22 runners including the favourite Earl Of Tyrone. This 4 year old has won 3 on the spin, progressing from a maiden win through to winning in Listed company. His handicap win was off a mark of 87 & he goes here off 103. Gaassee is the leading contender from these shores, representing William Haggas, & has good form in the book having won 4 of his last 5 but is 10lbs higher than his highest winning mark. Okita Soushi has a good chance for Joseph O’Brien but I’m put off by his draw in stall 22 whilst Royal Ascot winner Get Shirty has favoured even worse on the draw front, out in 24.
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Betting
You can give a chance to many in this field but there are 2 that I’m drawn to, the first of those is the Jessie Harrington trained Ever Present. A lightly raced 6 year old, he won 3 of his 5 starts on turf. He was 2nd on his first handicap start off a mark of 95, the front pair coming 9 lengths clear of 3rd, & next time up he went on to land a Premier handicap at Leopardstown. Back in 3rd that day was Layfayette, a horse that has since gone on to win in Listed, Group 3 & Group 2 company. He was then off for almost a year before coming back to run well enough in a Listed race where not much went right. He’s sure to strip fitter for that run & has been laid out for the race. A draw in 6 is a positive as is his prominent racing style. With big field handicap form in the book & his unexposed profile, I expect he will go very well in the day’s big race.
The second, at a massive price, is Global Storm for champion jockey William Buick. For sure, he has something to prove after finishing 10th in this last year off 2lb lower but there’s plenty to suggest he’s capable. He won a big field handicap over in Meydan before finishing 3rd to the top class Hukum in a Group 2 off level weights. A 2 length beating ain’t too shabby considering the winner is rated 122. He was then 4th in a trial for this here, where he finished behind Gaassee but is now 9lbs better off. A couple of good runs in Group company have since followed & he now looks prime for a big run here. Interestingly this is his first run beyond a mile & a half this year and I expect it will bring about improvement given his handicap form over this far before the Ebor last year reads 132. Not the obvious choice but he’s solid enough & if there’s a big priced winner of this, I expect he’s the one.
Tips
Back Ever Present (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 Paddy Power BOG (⅕ odds 1-7)
Back Global Storm (e/w) for a 0.75/10 stake at 26.00 Betfair Sportsbook BOG (⅕ odds 1-7)
