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The horse racing broadcaster has four selections on offer for the second day of the Ebor Festival, including the feature race, the Yorkshire Oaks.
Day two of the Ebor Festival, and while there is only a small field for the feature race — the Yorkshire Oaks — the fields have generally held up well for the five ITV races.
The first two races are both for juveniles, with one of racing’s quirks being that the higher-quality opener — the Group 2 Lowther — is worth less than the following Goffs Sales race. The Lowther has attracted a field of eleven, and most focus will be on Royal Fixation, who pushed Venetian Sun close in the Duchess of Cambridge, finishing one place ahead of the admirably tough Argentine Tango. She picked up well that day, making a big step forward from her debut win at Thirsk, but she is quite a short price and her finish at Newmarket suggests she may improve over 7f — though she stays at 6f here.
STAYA 6/1 (13:50 York) looked in her runs at 5f as if she would improve for a sixth furlong and seemed to prove it at Ascot, where she chased home Fitzella in a race where the winner rather got first run. She might just prove sharper at this trip than Royal Fixation and is a significantly longer price.
The first race for older horses has another big field for the Clipper Handicap, but it features a horse in BULLET POINT 11/4 (15:00 York) who will take a lot of running down. A physically imposing sort, he is straightforward and has been unlucky not to already have won a major handicap, finishing runner-up in two races at Ascot where he was only caught close home. He is well drawn in stall 3 to get out on the lead again here and really appeals as a future Group horse — he certainly has the physique to carry the big weight. Leadman and Northern Express also have decent chances, but Bullet Point is a horse I’ve very much taken to this season and think he could prove too classy here.
The feature race on day two is the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks, where ESTRANGE 4/1 (15:35 York) has an excellent chance of turning over dual Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk. Rather like Lambourn, it is strange that a dual Classic winner has not really captured the imagination — her successes being built around strong reserves of stamina rather than any fleet of foot. To my mind, this represents a problem here, as the O’Brien camp will need to ensure a solid gallop for Minnie Hauk to be seen to best effect — this gives Estrange the perfect setup. It is still less than a year since her debut at Goodwood, and in that time she has made such rapid progress that she was initially quoted as short as 16/1 for the Arc after winning at Haydock in May. She may have appeared less impressive last time in the Lancashire Oaks but was forced to commit for home further out than ideal that day. She is much better with a target to aim at — and Minnie Hauk will provide just that. Estrange has the superior turn of foot, and Danny Tudhope can sit and pounce late on.
William Haggas is not a trainer to compromise a handicap mark lightly, so the fact AEOLIAN 5/1 (16:10 York) lines up in the 1m 4f Sir Henry Cecil Galtres Stakes on only her third start could well be a tip in itself. She will carry the King’s second colours, as he also has Rainbow’s Edge in the race, but the 12f trip is one Aeolian should excel over — whereas for Rainbow’s Edge, things are less clear cut. She got a good trail in last time over 10f in the Lyric here at York but could not get by Sand Gazelle, and I am not certain the extra 2f is ideal. Aeolian comes from a family William knows well — being a half-sister to Desert Hero, who gave the King his first Royal Ascot winner last season. The family has plenty of stamina within it. A lower-key assignment could have allowed the option of handicaps — which could be holed below the waterline if she finishes close up here — so the inference is that she could well be capable of competing regularly at this level.
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