Equinties - York day 2

Gm Equinauts

Well, York was York yesterday and the big prices kept coming in!

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Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

STOLEN FROM ASCOT

Royal Ascot and the Coral-Eclipse have been denied a chance to see KING OF STEEL as connections have confirmed he’s suffered a setback.

In a statement on X, Amo Racing said that he has “sustained an injury during his routine exercise” which has ruled him out of his main summer targets.

On the incident, regular rider Raul da Silva said: “He worked well on Tuesday and walked back fine. I went to see him later and he was fine, but in the evening I got a call saying he was lame. I went to see him this morning."

KING OF STEEL has started his rehab away from Roger Varian’s yard, though he’ll return when he is all fit and well.

More: https://www.racingpost.com/news/britain/roger-varians-stable-star-king-of-steel-to-miss-royal-ascot-and-rest-of-summer-campaign-after-being-found-lame-aNJPV0g88h14/ 

EYECATCHERS YESTERDAY

With not much news to talk about from yesterday, we’ve decided to provide a few eye-catchers from yesterday’s action at York.

The first horse up is CHILLINGHAM who ran a solid race to finish third in the opener. The pace was slow and CRYSTAL DELIGHT was able to dictate things from the front, so it was hard for horses to get into it from the back. However, Ed Bethell’s 5yo battled on the outside of the track and kept running through the line, a good sign that he still had something left at the end. He might get dropped for that run which could see him on an attractive mark later on in the season.

The other eye-catcher was Becketts CLASSICAL SONG who’ll like head straight to Epsom after that very eye-catching pipe opener.

BIG RACE PREVIEWS

15.15 GROUP 2 MIDDLETON STAKES

FREE WIND is one of 3 o/o 6 runners making her seasonal reappearance. At the age of 6 and being a multiple Gr2 winner by GALILEO you’d think she would be in foal enjoying her retirement by now. She clearly loves the game and won this race last year on her reappearance. Obvious player.

BLUESTOCKING beat FREE WIND last year when she was 2nd at Ascot in the Gr1 Champion F&M Stakes. She was in receipt of 6lbs though. Looks better suited over 1m4f so this drop in trip albeit looks a good starting point but might be a tad sharp for her.

SAPPHIRE SEAS is a lightly raced Frankel 4yo, she ran well in Meydan on her last start and she looks primed for a big season campaign.

INFINITE COSMOS is another lightly raced 4yo, she was third to SAPPHIRE SEAS last year. Stoutes seasonal debutants are hard to gauge so best watched here for future engagements.

CAERNARFON is a good yardstick for young trainer Jack Channon who has been enjoying a lucrative spell recently. Rated 109 she’s the third highest rated in the field. Her pipe opener at Newmarket would have blown the cob webs off. Interesting contender, she’s a lovely outsider.

NOVUS by sprinter DANDY MAN but she clearly takes more after her maternal side as she stays over a mile, she last won when tackling this trip. There is a niggling feeling her last run may have left its mark as it was only 12 days ago.

Verdict: FREE WIND is a very solid favourite and she won’t be an easy nut to crack but SAPPHIRE SEAS is lightly raced and you get the impression we haven’t seen the best of her yet. She’s had a little MOT over in Dubai so will be primed for today.

15.45 GROUP 2 DANTE STAKES

Two favourites have won in the past 10 years, so ANCIENT WISDOM is there to be shot at. He’ll love the trip but he’ll want some rain overnight. By DUBAWI he cost a cool €2,000,000 at Arqana Yearling Sales. He won the Futurity last year and that form is slowly getting better.

CAVIAR HEIGHTS is by SEA THE STARS so he’ll stay the trip, again like the Godolphin runner he won’t want the ground too fast. Looks a real improver and still very much unexposed.

AL MUSMAK, MK from now, descends from the infamous Ascot race won by ROSALLION. ANCIENT WISDOM was 3rd. AM’s grandam was a multiple Gr1 winner in America and Placed in some Gr1 races in France. His 2nd in the Royal Lodge is very good, CAPULET was behind him and MACDUFF who was a promising second in the Sandown Derby Trial.

ECONOMICS is also by NIGHT OF THUNDER like AM. One of Haggas’ best 3yo’s and boy did he look good at Newbury lto so needs to be taken very seriously. He needs to improve massively but there is potential under the bonnet and the money is coming for him.

CAMBRIDGE is bred on the magic DUBAWI/GALILEO cross. He would have found the trip in the Craven a bit sharp, back up to 1m2f will be more his cup of tea. Not loved in the market for a Ballydoyle horse though.

GODS WINDOW had a shocker at Chester, he fell out the stalls. That was 7 days ago. Clutching at straws a bit here but will be pushed to find out if he is a Derby horse or a King Edward type.

WAR ROOMS should be considered, to an extent. A bit of a no show at Sandown in the trial. Running today on the fastest ground he has encountered it could, could, bring out a lot more improvement but he’ll need it to.

Verdict: AL MUSMAK hasn’t been seen since the Royal Lodge, but that form is looking very good. Plus he ran a smart race behind ROSALLION at Ascot last year as well. Two smart bits of form. He has the right pedigree to be involved at the business end. A tentative nod in a tough and exciting race.

16.15 LISTED WESTOW STAKES

The final pattern race of the day is the Listed Westow Stakes which sees the return of BIG EVS. He’s drifting like a barge out to 11/10. A gift or a red flag?

Trainer Mick Appleby has said that he’s “not seen a huge difference from two to three” so there could be some concern there, but this race looks very winnable and he has plenty of ability based on his juvenile season.

On ratings, the one who looks like he could challenge is KYLIAN for Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle. He had his backers every time last year but always let them down. He was fifth to BIG EVS in the Group 2 Flying Childers and third to him in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes, so he has to reverse that form. It’ll depend on how much he’s trained on from a juvenile.

UNBREAK MY HEART has plenty to find on ratings, but she has race fitness on her side and she was highly tried in Group 3 and Listed events. She’s fairly ground versatile, but a better surface would benefit her.

MON NA SLIEVE has a nice pedigree behind her as his dam achieved a rating of 104 and he comes from the family of ARTIGIANO, the 2012 Group 2 Royal Lodge runner-up. He won on debut at York when we tipped him and, like UNBREAK MY HEART, was highly tried last season, so this season is crucial to see what his ability could be.

SOMMELIER, DARK VINTAGE, and SPORTS COACH all have chances, but it’ll be tough. The former would be the preference of the lot as he bolted up at Kempton in November and has shown some ability.

Verdict: Why is BIG EVS here and drifting? They have obviously started here for 2 reasons. One it’s a pipe opener or two, the last time he was here, he got smashed up by the older horses, so they need to work out if he can go for the Nunthorpe again this year or skip it. He’ll win this well and connections will be licking their lips at the thought of redemption in the Nunthorpe.

RISK ON

A tough day yesterday, thank god for Norm (@NormDuncsBGP on X) who came to the rescue with a 10/1 (22/1 sp) winner.

Today we’ll play a good bet on BIG EVS at 11/10 and SAPPHIRE SEAS 4/1 plus one more in:

17.20 WHISKEY PETE

The only one with course form and it’s winning form. His pedigree suggests he’ll be a better 3yo being a brother to CANDLEFORD and ATTY PERSSE. Beckett is going well. 4’s on books for a dirty ew.