The going seems likely to play a major part in at the first day of York’s Ebor meeting, with heavy ground forecast.
In the sprint handicap at 1.45 I am going to keep the selection process simple. Green Park has won twice on heavy ground, was second last time out so is in good form and races off a mark lower than his last win.
In the Juddmonte International at 3.25 I just wonder if New Approach will find the ground more to his liking than Duke of Marmalade. Phoenix Tower could be the one to give the front two most to think about.
Charlie Tokyo seems to be a horse that is at his best when the mud is flying. He won the John Smith’s Cup at York last season on heavy ground and looks worth an each way interest in the 4.40. To be honest though, it is probably best to approach day one of the meeting with caution given the state of the going.
Over in Beijing I see we are neck and neck with the Aussies in the medals table. They had a good win in the Women’s Triathlon today, a fairly new Olympic Sport that more than earns its keep at the games. If you are interested in such trivia you might like to know that Banjo Patterson, a runner in the Brighton 2.35 tomorrow, is named after the guy who penned the words to Waltzing Matilda. The horse is out of a mare called Rumpipumpy. As I can’t think of an acceptable way to follow that I will sign off for tonight. Tune in tomorrow for a look forward to day 2 of the York meeting.
My thanks to David Hebb for allowing me to use his photograph of York racecourse.
ahorse 