York Dante Meeting - Dante Day Highlights and Day 3 Tips!

Out Do and Danny Tudhope

After the spectacle that was Dante day on Thursday, it would take some smart horses to have me excited about Friday's meeting at York. The feature race is of course the Yorkshire Cup for the stayers over a mile and three quarters. After scanning through the card, only a couple of horses jumped out at me, and I'll list them below...

Meeting - York
Time - 14:40
Selection - AJMAN BRIDGE

Ajman Bridge has solid claims to land this handicap based on his neck second to Godolphin's Razor Wind at Doncaster last month. He stayed all the way to the line on that occasion, and shaped as though this step up in trip would do him the world of good. The jockey who beat him last time up, William Buick, takes the reigns from Adam Kirby, and at 9/2, Luca Cumani looks to be sending out the value bet of the day.

Meeting - York
Time - 15:15
Selection - ROMSDAL (nap)

This is the feature race of the day, the Yorkshire Cup, over a mile and three quarters, which can easily go the way of Romsdal for John Gosden and William Buick. The horse was one of the stand-out stayers in the country last season, finishing third behind Australia and Kingston Hill in the Derby, and then reaffirming that form by finishing an excellent second to Kingston Hill in the St Leger. With that being backed up by Kingston Hill's creditable run in the Arc behind Treve, and his return outing blowing off the cobwebs, the return to 14 furlongs will suit Romsdal to the ground, and he should be the highlight of a good day for Buick. Don't expect 9/4 to be the price at the off, as he'll likely come for good money through the night and tomorrow morning... so get on!

Best of the Rest

The opening race at York could go the way of French under Graham Lee. One of many juvenile fillies in this listed race with X amount of potential, but the way she won her maiden at Ripon, while showing the signs of her inexperience, means she may be open to big improvement if coming on from the run. Another filly that could have a bright future is Yasmeen (15:45) who won a Newbury maiden with conviction, and now, stepped up to a mile, this daughter of Sea The Stars may prove too good for the opposition, and provide owner Hamdan Al Maktoum with another useful prospect to go to war with. Across the card at Newbury, course and distance winner Accession could be a safe bet in the 14:55 for Martin Lane and trainer Charlie Fellowes.

Dante Day Highlights

- Out Do done the business for David O'Meara and Danny Tudhope in the opening sprint. Tracking the pace through the early part of the contest, he was still hard on the bridle when he made his challenge at the two furlong pole, and despite hanging badly in the closing stages, he stayed resolutely to the line to win by a neck and come home the 6/1 winner.

- The group 2 Middleton Stakes for the fillies went the way of Secret Gesture, who made all under a clever ride from Andrea Atzeni. Placed in 4 group 1 contests, including the Epsom, German and Yorkshire Oaks as a three year old, she was clearly the class in the race, and she proved that when she stayed strongly all the way home to give Ralph Beckett a valuable 7/2 success, reversing French form with Ribbons in the process.

- On the face of things, it looked like a top class renewal of the group 2 Dante Stakes, and it proved to be nothing short of a race straight from the top drawer, as Racing Post Trophy winner Elm Park, impressive Sandown winner Jack Hobbs, and Golden Horn pulled clear to make some decent horses look below average. Lord Ben Stack ensured a good pace was set, but turning for home, Elm Park and Jack Hobbs loomed up and looked to have the race between them. As they were beginning to draw clear, Golden Horn, under a confident Frankie Dettori, made smooth headway to join in the party, moving readily into the lead entering the final furlong and securing a 4/1 winner for John Gosden. His other representative Jack Hobbs finished second as the 2/1 market leader, with Elm Park (crying out for further still) returning third at 7/2. With Golden Horn not yet entered in the Epsom classic, and Jack Hobbs looking like a thorough 10 furlong horse, it may be worth swapping their engagements (Golden Horn entered in the Prix du Jockey Club), with a rematch between Golden Horn and Elm Park over the mile and a half looking like a mouth-watering prospect. Easily one of the best races of the flat season so far.