I took a couple of chances on Day two, and it didn't work out.
Pearl Fortune was up with the pace, but lacked the class to get involved. I was tempted to back the favourite, but at the time she was 6/5F, which didn't get the juices flowing. The winner eventually won at 5/2, and if she was those odds at the time of writing, it would've been a no-brainer.
Aeolian was a drifter before the off, and ran like the market suggested. She tried to make the running, which I was fine with, but she got swallowed up very quickly.
Champagne Prince 14/1 (1pt EW, 4pl) – York 1.50
Four-year-olds have a very good record in this race, which leaves you with three horses for this year's renewal. Mount Atlas is the class angle in the race, but he is held up towards the rear in nearly every race, which is enough to put me off. Oisin is a good jockey, so he might make use of his low stall, but if they revert back to normal tactics, he might struggle to bridge the gap in a race that lacks pace. French Duke is a horse who will always attract attention due to the owners and the fact that he was progressing last year. This year's two runs haven't been great, despite there being strong money on both occasions. Champagne Prince is the last four-year-old I've not mentioned, and I thought he was an interesting candidate.
Champagne Prince is a better horse on the AW. He is 5/7 on the artificial surfaces and is 0/7 on turf, but I think he can win races on the turf. He is a classy operator on the AW, so if he can translate that to the grass, he is a horse you shouldn't completely overlook. His handicap mark on the turf is 10lbs lower than his rating on the AW, which will always give him a fighting chance of winning a handicap of this nature.
He is the likely frontrunner in a race which lacks severe pace. His two runs this year have been over further, which I don't think suits, so the drop back to 12f looks the correct play. Connections have also opted for a gelding operation, which is something which generally brings out a good level of improvement, and combining these three components, he is good value.
He is drawn quite wide, but as I've mentioned before, I think he should be able to get to the front. York is a track which favours those towards the front of the field, so David Egan gets an uncontested lead. It could become very interesting later in the race.
Last time out, he wasn't great, but his run at Royal Ascot was a nice effort, finishing 6th/16, just 4.25L behind French Master, who won that race with ease. The top six were only separated by 1.75L, so it was proof that he can run big races on the grass.
Spicy Marg 16/1 (0.5pt EW, 4pl) – York 3.35
The state of the sprinting division over the last couple of seasons has been terrible. It's very likely that we get a different Group 1 winner every time, and it's almost as if any horse can beat any horse on any given day. The sprinting division lacks star quality, and for that reason, I think you can give a chance to the two juveniles in this race.
We've seen older handicappers win Group 1 and Group 2 races this season, so why can't one of the two-year-olds make use of the weight advantage and win this? I give a very good chance to both of these horses, and I am a big fan of Lady Iman, but the odds aren't appealing to me anymore. Not only that, but Joe Fanning in the saddle puts me right off. That horse is a speed demon; she is a very quick horse and relishes five furlongs, but she didn't clock a quicker time than Spicy Marg. Both of these horses ran on the same day at Glorious Goodwood and Spicy Marg ran a quicker time. I'm not a times man, but to the eye, you'd have said Lady Iman was quicker; she travels better, whereas Spicy Marg finishes her race off better.
I think Spicy Marg will be off the bridle, but should relish a fast gallop. She hasn't been great to me, as she was tipped up twice and ran shockers on both occasions. Then, of course, she won last time out when I didn't tip her up.
What I thought was interesting was that she won the same race The Platinum Queen won at Glorious Goodwood. That horse was second as a juvenile in this race a couple of years back, and has been one of the best juvenile sprinters going against the older horses in recent memory. She eventually went on and won the L'Abbaye on Arc weekend. She only clocked a 0.3s quicker time at Goodwood than Spicy Marg, and she ran on quicker ground. Everything points towards a big run.
Harry Bentley makes the trip from Hong Kong to ride Spicy Marg, which is very eye-catching.
GambleAware