Richard Hoiles: My 4 York Ebor fancies for Thursday
23 Aug
Horse Racing
Richard Hoiles
The racing broadcaster is sticking with his pre-season prediction in the Yorkshire Oaks and thinks Roger Varian could have a good day on the Knavesmire.

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Fillies take centre stage on day two at York on Thursday with the feature races the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks and a very strong renewal of the Group 2 Lowther Stakes for the juveniles.

YORKSHIRE OAKS (15:35)

At the beginning of the season, I was convinced that FREE WIND 9/2 would turn into a Group 1 filly and that was reinforced by her successful reappearance here at York in the Middleton. She improved into the teeth of the pace that day, holding off Rogue Millennium, yet while the rest of that race worked out well, Free Wind returns to York with questions to answer.

A blowout at Ascot against the boys was followed by defeat, admittedly in atrocious conditions, at Goodwood. Those efforts are reflected in her price and so I am happy to give my initial pre-season thoughts one last run, especially with ground queries for Savethelastdance.

LOWTHER STAKES (13:50)

At the other end of the spectrum is another filly I am hopeful will make up into a top-class performer in CHERRY BLOSSOM 11/5.

She was added to the stable tracker off the back of her debut when sent off favourite for a Listed race at Naas. That was an odd affair with an already small field splitting into two where, having stumbled at the start, she was handled with an eye to the future in soft ground while still showing she had a fair amount of untapped potential. That shone through with her demolition of a large field of maidens next time out at the Curragh in a time comparable to that clocked by Bucanero Fuerte in the Group 1 race on the same card.

She will have her mettle tested against the admirable Relief Rally and Goodwood winner Flora of Bermuda, but the fact she was supplemented for this suggests she has come out of the Curragh race well.

REST OF THE CARD

Outside the two main races, Roger Varian looks to have a couple of decent chances starting with the lightly raced AKHU NAJLA 9/2 in the competitive mile handicap (15:00).

He has clearly been very difficult to train and there will be no hiding place in a big field of experienced handicappers, but he is a fantastic-looking horse who has always looked as if he may need time to develop. A half-brother to the 2000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold, he cost 2.7m guineas as a yearling and, until meeting a setback, had been on target for a tilt at the St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot.

He did eventually make it to Ascot but in a much lower-key return late last month, finishing a staying-on fourth having been settled towards the rear in a steadily-run race. There is always the concern that he may ‘bounce’ being backed up quite quickly, but it is also possible that connections realise that they need to take their chances while all is well.

Later on in the card, Roger saddles MODAARA 5/1 in another fillies and mares race, the Sir Henry Cecil Galtres Stakes (16:10). She found a step up to Group 3 company beyond her at Haydock but that was on just about the fastest ground seen all season and, when asked for her effort, she seemed to be feeling it. There is a good covering at York and, down in grade and with less jar in the surface, she can show she is a Pattern-class filly.

JOCKEYS FOR COURSES

Here’s our usual look as jockeys riding at tracks on Thursday where they have a particularly strong record:

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

ALJARI SP (Chelmsford, 19:35) has been in good form and overcame trouble in running to win at Windsor last time, which makes a 2lb rise look lenient. Tom Clover’s horses are in excellent form and he won off a higher mark in his younger days for Marco Botti. Stall 4 looks a good berth to give Jack Mitchell options and he can land the hat-trick.

THURSDAY SELECTIONS:

CHERRY BLOSSOM 11/5 (York, 13:50)

AKHU NAJLA 9/2 (York, 15:00)

FREE WIND 9/2 (York, 15:35)

MODAARA 5/1 (York, 16:10)

ALJARI SP (Chelmsford, 19:35)