The mind of a jockey baffles me, even the ones who are deemed to be the best in the business.
Oisin Murphy decided to chuck all of the previous performances in the bin and thought he knew best by holding up a known front runner. Zoulu Chief is a very quick horse that is best ridden from the front, so it's crazy to see Oisin hold him up in last place and then give up on him halfway through like Frankie Dettori used to do.
Thankfully, Thursday wasn't all doom and gloom as Princess Rascal managed to win under Billy Loughnane. The horse was green as grass when she came under pressure, but managed to run straight in the final half furlong to run down the leader.
Gulya 3/1 (1pt) – York 3.13
My first selection for Friday is a horse who has run against my winning selection from Thursday. Gulya was the favourite for the Ascot race that Princess Rascal finished last in, but like my selection from yesterday, Gulya didn't get the rub of the green in that race and probably should have won.
Silvestre De Sousa is a cracking pilot, but he would have wanted another go on Gulya from the Ascot race. His mount was cantering all over the others in the race, but couldn't find a gap for the best part of three furlongs, and she would've won the race on the bridle, which was a painful race to watch back. I'm hoping that with that run under her belt, she will be fitter and more street-wise, and will be able to improve again to win this Class 1 race.
She ran to a mark of 90 last time out, which is decent considering nothing went right for her, so if she were to fully extend under SDS, she could've easily been running towards a mark of 100+. Thankfully, this race hasn't got an outstanding claim of any of the fillies turning up, so I think she will be able to hold her own against them.
Also, it was nice to see my selection on Thursday win in good style at the finish, as it makes her run look better from last time out, as I do think Princess Rascal is going to be a horse to follow through this season.
Continuous 9/2 (1.5pt) – York 3.45
I do fancy Continuous to win this race quite strongly, but it all boils down to how Ryan Moore decides to ride him. This race looks in desperate need of a front runner, and I think Ryan will take the initiative and ride Continuous on the front end and set a fairly strong pace.
There are no known front runners, and all of the horses like to held up, but watching Ryan Moore throughout the years, he is a jockey who will recognise this and think he can steal the race by setting the fractions he wants to. There is not many jockeys who are better when going from the front, and with Continuous he will have a hardy partner who will keep plugging away when under pressure, as he will probably have to get pumping on his a long way from home, but we've seen it multiple of times with the Ballydoyle horses, that they keep finding for pressure, and I can envisage this horse doing just that.
This isn't a strong renewal. We have Sweet William, who looks in need of further, and then you have Rebel's Romance, who is much better over shorter, which leaves the other two, who shouldn't be good enough to win this. Continuous was a St Leger winner and a fifth in the Arc back in 2023, so we're dealing with a very good horse, and even though he hasn't looked the same level since, the fact they are keeping him in training in a positive sign.
GambleAware