It is set to be a battle to land the Placepot with the Tote on Saturday at York, with the Ebor just one of six highly competitive contests to navigate en route to the jackpot. GG have picked out our selections to guide you through the day below.
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Leg 1: 1.50pm York – Sky Bet Strensall Stakes (Group 3)
Leg 1 Selections: (5) Skukuza
Bullet Point would be a highly intriguing runner up in class having won a handicap on Thursday here, but an unlikely runner or not, that quick turnaround would not be ideal facing his first Group contest. With favourite King’s Gambit dropping in trip to one he is not as versed in, Skukuza might represent the value Placepot angle. He is a much improved horse on turf this season, winning a handicap at the Curragh off 95 before stepping up to land Listed honours there the following month in grand style. A disappointment on soft ground at Glorious Goodwood can be excused and Ed Dunlop can continue to call upon the services of Ryan Moore.
Leg 2: 2.25pm York – Sky Bet Melrose Handicap
Leg 2 Selections: (3) Tarriance
This is a relatively small turnout for this three-year-old handicap, effectively a reserve Ebor. Novelista could well continue his record of respectable efforts in or near the frame for Placepot purposes, but having run poorly on his only run at York, he is passed over in favour of the safer bet Tarriance. He could easily be on a four-timer, having narrowly failed to rally quickly enough to defy a penalty at Doncaster two starts back, but he quickly put that right to win at Sandown over this 1m6f trip next time out. That he beat a Sir Mark Prescott-trained improver over such a distance could well speak volumes, and he is one to rely on when the going gets tough.
Leg 3: 3.00pm York – Sky Bet City Of York Stakes (Group 1)
Leg 3 Selections: (8) Ten Bob Tony, (11) Exactly
Rosallion could even improve for this drop back to 7f on breeding, but he has often rattled home over 1m and both he and Never So Brave, the latter due to him possessing only comparable form to some at much higher prices, are both opposed. The first for value in the first Group 1 renewal of this contest is Ten Bob Tony. Ed Walker’s charge has useful 7f form dating back to the start of last season and the key has been to catch him fresh; his best career efforts have come after breaks of 164, 118 and 203 days. 84 days on from his victory in Haydock’s Group 3 John Of Gaunt Stakes, a level of form which is not far off the best below Rosallion, he can go well at massive odds.
The other is three-year-old filly Exactly for Aidan O’Brien. Looking at the figures alone, you would think she had not kicked on from her two-year-old form, which saw her make the frame in a Group 1 and land a Group 3 at Leopardstown by 6½ lengths. However, since making a below par return, she has often travelled really well through 7f before not quite seeing out 1m, with both of her Group 1 appearances in France this season looking highly promising until late on. The removal of that final furlong could see her fulfil her promise.
Leg 4: 3.35pm York – Sky Bet Ebor Handicap
Leg 4 Selections: (14) Siege Of Troy, (17) Ascending
Willie Mullins is always the first man to look out for in the modern Ebor, especially given how eyecatching Hipop De Loire was 12 months ago. The eight-year-old is up 3lb though, and at his age, he is conceding weight to all bar one rival. That could prove difficult and there is value to be had.
Firstly, Siege Of Troy represents Johnny Murtgah, who won this with Sonnyboyliston in 2021. His last two runs are particularly of note, as he rallied for fourth in the 1m4f Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot behind Ethical Diamond, suggesting he will be fine at this trip, while he also gets an 8lb swing at the weights with that Mullins runner. He has since been a close third in Group 3 company, just half-a-length and a length behind rivals rated 110 and 112, so his mark of 99, which sees him 3lb well-in, is one he could well defy if improving as expected for this new trip.
Alongside him, we will take defending champion Henry De Bromhead’s representative in Ascending. Having been frustrating as a hurdler, he has shown a completely new level on the flat since last September, having now racked up a hat-trick of handicap successes at Dundalk, Cork and Ascot. His royal meeting victory came over 2m4f, but he had previously won over 1m4f, so the combination of guaranteed stamina, plus the fact he is clearly continuing in the right direction form wise, make him another lively Placepot bet.
Leg 5: 4.10pm York – Sky Bet Constantine Handicap
Leg 5 Selections: (3) Commanche Falls, (8) Twilight Calls
Given that the veteran Summerghand won this in back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022, there can be danger in ignoring experienced handicappers. For all that Jubilee Walk and Pocklington both ran well here in a strong handicap four weeks ago, preference is for a pair who outran their odds in Goodwood’s Stewards’ Cup, namely Twilight Calls and Commanche Falls.
Both finished more than three lengths behind Two Tribes that day, but were the first two home on the far side of the track, which was clearly riding slower. For both, those represented big improvements on recent form and they are down 1lb and 2lb respectively in the handicap. With Two Tribes now up a further 8lb, they both get significant swings in the weights, have decent draws in stalls 11 (Twilight Class) and 9 (Commanche Falls), and it feels very likely that at least one of them will go close in this company off significantly reduced marks from their peaks.
Leg 6: 4.45pm York – Julia Graves Roses Stakes (Listed)
Leg 6 Selections: (6) Silent Applause
Military Code is the more established of the Godolphin order, with William Buick keeping the faith after an easily excusable Goodwood effort. However, the improving gelding Silent Applause could prove the more upwardly mobile of the pair. Although beaten on his first two starts, he still went off favourite against a well-regarded Wathnan Racing opponent on debut over 6f in a race working out extremely well. Since dropping to 5f though, he is two from two, getting off the mark at Nottingham, then readily dispatching two rivals in a nursery off a mark of 88. He was conceding 11lb to the runner-up, who had run respectably in Newbury’s Super Sprint, so looks to be firmly on the up.
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