York Ebor Meeting Day One Races: 4 Wins: 0 Profit/Loss: -40.00 Day Two Races: 3 Wins: 0 [1 place] Profit/Loss: -15.00 Day Three Races: 1 Wins: 0 Profit/Loss: -10.00 [Doswell withdrawn] Day Four Races: 2 Wins: 1 Profit/Loss: +15.00 So Mustashry finally gets us a win on the board after four quite tricky days at York! The times recorded yesterday were significantly quicker than the preceding three days. To illustrate, Friday’s races were all run in slower than standard time – even the 5f Nunthorpe Stakes which featured the best sprinters in Europe (and arguably in the world). Yesterday, two of the seven races were run quicker than standard. Entirely appropriately, the Ebor Handicap itself (which gives the meeting it’s name) was the quickest at 0.26 seconds fast. I said in my preview of Day One that results can sometimes become unpredictable if the going is soft (or if excessive watering has taken place). More rain fell on Wednesday than was forecast, and this I feel has had a bearing on the week, with only six successful favourites winning across the 25 races. With the going drying to good yesterday, Mustashry was able to replicate the good time performance produced when winning it’s previous race on the all weather surface at Chelmsford. In the other race I played in yesterday, Invincible Army finished second while Headway dead-heated for third. We were done for by one of Richard Fahey’s who improved by more than anticipated given that the level of his previous two runs were below that of many of this field. My initial comments about the going and the deluge that fell on Wednesday explain why I scaled back my bets over the week. You have to rein back a bit when conditions aren’t in your favour – even at one of the best meetings of the year! I’d love to see fewer tricky handicaps at the meeting and more classy conditions events, but the meeting is popular and well-attended, and the course executive will justifiably feel they already have a winning formula. Of the ten bets I put up, we had one winner, four seconds, three thirds (including the dead-heater) and only two that disappointed. Of those two, Happy Like A Fool ran well but failed to see out the sixth furlong, which was fair enough. There’s much to study and take forward from the week, and this is just a small part of the overall strike rate and profitability figures for the year, which can be judged from that longer time perspective at a later date. Aside from the betting, the meeting was a magnificent spectacle. Cracksman and Ulysses (Wednesday), and Enable (Thursday) put up terrific performances which will have set them up for even bigger targets later in the season. The race of the week was the Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday, which featured a magnificent contest between Marsha and Lady Aurelia. The memory of Frankie punching the air as he crossed the line, jubilantly but wrongly as it turned out will live long in the memory. And the Ebor itself producing the best time performance of the week seemed entirely appropriate. On to the St Leger Meeting at Doncaster next, and then the big Autumn meetings at Newmarket, followed by the Arc and the Breeder’s Cup (to say nothing of the Melbourne ‘Spring’ Carnival in November!). For anyone still retaining misguided confidence in my judgement, Dutch Connection (4.30 Goodwood) is available at 5/4 today when it should really be an odds on chance. It has won on the only two occasions when dropping down to Group 3 level in it’s last 16 outings (the remainder have largely been in Group 1’s) and the ride today goes to Jim Crowley, who has had such an excellent week up at York.
