Racing tips: The speedy Last Crusader tries 5f for the first time

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Hopefully you found some winners at York and the other meetings yesterday, let me know how you got on. I've focused on York again for Day 2 of their meeting.

York 1:50

 Trainer: Michael Dods

 Jockey: Paul Mulrennan

 Form: 15446-

York is very much a speed track, not as much as the likes of Goodwood or Epsom, but it does favour quick horses, hence why horses towards the front generally do well. However, when a race has four or five different pace angles it is worth looking at a horse who comes off the pace. JAWWAAL fits the bill, and should relish a true run race which looks a guarantee.

We all know how well Michael Dods has done with sprinters over the years, and this lad has won a couple of decent races in his career to date. His current mark of 98 is not an easy mark to win off but I do think he is more than capable of winning a handicap off it, when all the stars align. He handles the track shown when finishing 4th to copper night in August and would've finished much better than 7th in this race if given a better ride (the jockey went far too early and the horse got tired in the final furlong). The thing about this horse which will suit him to this race is that he is a very strong traveller. He will be held up somewhere but he will be on the bridle for a long time and will have to be played late. Paul Mulrennan is back on board which is a big plus, with both Paul and Michael being in cracking form of recent. With the Dods yard being in good form the lack of a run isn't as much of an issue as he might've been, also he ran well fresh in the past, winning once and the other three times has seen him in the top 4.

The horses at the top of the handicap look in the grips of the handicapper, including Good Effort (looks better on AW), Copper Knight (loves York but a mark of 104 looks high) and even Raasel who could improve to win this but I think it was harsh by the handicapper to put him up by 7lbs for winning by a head. People will be jumping all over Alligator Alley with the recent formline being boosted by Highfield Princess, but I don't take that form literally.

York 3:00

 Trainer: Keith Dalgleish

Jockey: Callum Rodriguez

Form: 500-04

I'm a big fan of WHAT'S THE STORY and whenever he runs at York I think he is worth a second look as he handles this track very well. He has won twice at this course from nine attempts, which doesn't scream course specialist by any means but he runs better here than any other turf track, shown when winning this race in 2019 off a 1lb lower mark than what he is on today. Obviously at the age of 8 you'd think he'd have little to no chance of repeating that win off a higher mark, but there's still fight in the old dog yet.

His run in the Lincoln on the start of the turf season at Doncaster was better than his 16th/22 looks. He was stuck behind a wall of horses, was travelling better than a lot of the field and didn't get the clearest of runs so was dragged out wide where his efforts folded. I'm not for one bit saying he would've won but he would've been finishing in a better place than 16th that's for sure. His run after at Kempton is what caught my eye. I had a selection in that race so I saw that race on the day, and the fact he finished middle of the pack in fourth was a pleasing effort. Kempton isn't a track for him and the form has started to work out quite nicely. The winner was well gambled on to win that race that day and he went on to run a nice 3rd at Newmarket in a 52k handicap. The runner-up has won since in emphatic style and I get the feeling some of the horses in behind will pick up some in the near future.

The other horse I liked in this race was Isla Kai who has kept on improving from last year and he started this year off in the same way with a good fourth at Newbury which looks strong form. The problem is that he does like to race from the front so the wide stall of 15 might be a problem as there is a front runner in Cruyff Turn who is drawn in stall 1, who will more than likely break well and want to get the rail for a prominent position. Hopefully they light each other up and set it up for a closer.

York 4:10

Trainer: K R Burke

Jockey: Daniel Tudhope

Form: 4662-7

The drop back to 5f looks an interesting tactic for LAST CRUSADER and it's one I think that could work and bring out some serious improvement. This front running colt of Oasis Dream has always looked to have bags of speed over 6f but doesn't quite have the stamina to last it out, which is why the drop in trip looks to be a positive.

The owners of Last Crusader seem to target this race in recent year, winning this contest twice since 2017, which also saw them grab a 3rd place finish in 2019 as well. Karl Burke has started his season off extremely well, and is a trainer known for his sprinters with Quiet Reflection and Havana's Grey to name a few in the last couple of years, so he knows what time of day it is when it comes to this kind of race so his decision to drop this horse in trip brings great confidence to my selection.

I don't think this race has a superstar like last year's renewal which saw Winter Power set the sprinting world alight with a demolition job in this. This looks like a fairly weak renewal and an upset wouldn't be a surprise in my eyes. Hopefully all 8 stay in this race as it will make Last Crusader a good EW bet.

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