York’s famous Ebor meeting will be here before we know it and trainer William Haggas will be attempting to plunder many of its top races with his talented string. Although his stables are in Newmarket, Haggas is a Yorkshireman and so he particularly enjoys seeing his runners win at the course which lies some 40 miles from his birthplace of Skipton.
The race that Haggas targets with relish each year is the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap, which is the richest flat handicap run in Britain and has a prize of £300,000 for the winner. The contest on Saturday 24 August is over a distance of one mile six furlongs and for a maximum field of 22 runners so, with a fast pace all but guaranteed, stamina is of the essence.
Haggas has already revealed that NAQEEB is being targeted at this race and, after four races since the beginning of May, this four-year-old gelding looks to be running into form at just the right time. His last run when second to Temporize at Newbury offered plenty of encouragement and the fact that the horse has good form over two miles is a plus.
It is slightly worrying that Naqeeb’s only run at York saw him tailed off in the Group 2 Boodles Yorkshire Cup but that run was simply too bad to be true and I am happy to put a line through it.
As always in this hot handicap, there will be dangers aplenty, including those horses trained in Ireland, and there will be more places on offer on the day from bookmakers, particularly from the race sponsors. However, I am happy to take the 16-1 offered now by Sky Bet on Naqeeb, with five places each way, because the horse is surely going to be shorter on the day.
I am certainly hoping Haggas can continue his rich vein of form for another couple of weeks. He has his string in rude health: 16 of his 38 runners over the past fortnight have won for a remarkable strike rate of 42 per cent.
A trip to York racecourse – known affectionately as ‘The Knavesmire’ – comes highly recommended for those who have never been. Just a two-hour train journey from London, it’s a stunning track with a wonderful atmosphere, while the York Tap has to be one of the best station pubs in the country too.
I have already put up a second bet at York in the form of Ghostwriter for the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes on Wednesday 21 August so the beautifully-bred Naqeeb is my second and last ante-post tip for the meeting.
As for this weekend’s fare, I am a great fan of tomorrow Ascot’s Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup meeting in terms of the course staging a fun day out and also, hopefully, encouraging more people to sample the sport of horse racing. Many racegoers come as much for the after-meeting concert as the horses but, if they enjoy their day out at a racetrack and come again, sobeit.
However, the nature of the Shergar Cup with teams of jockeys from all over the world competing in a team-format and drawing horses at random in the six races makes things fiendishly difficult for punters.
I am convinced that trainer David O’Meara’s New Image is a horse that is going to be running well in some of the big one-mile handicaps of this season and next. However, his odds of around 3-1 favourite, are plenty skinny enough for the last race on tomorrow’s card, the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Mile (4.30 p.m.).
As regular readers of this column will know, I never mind backing a veteran horse because their odds are often bigger than their chances of winning. I have to admit that a bet on BLESS HIM is far from guaranteed to be a winning one but this 10-year-gelding loves Ascot’s straight course and good ground. Furthermore, he will have every help from the saddle from young Billy Loughnane.
Bless Him’s recent form leaves something to be desired but his first run of the season, back in May when third in the 21-runner Victoria Cup at Ascot off a mark of 98, gives him a definite chance tomorrow off a mark of just 95.
With his hold-up style of running, Bless Him needs a fast pace to be at his best but that’s likely in a race of this nature with lots of international jockeys . Back him each way at 12-1 with William Hill to get the four places on offer.
My only other recommendation for the other five races at Ascot is to keep stakes small if you do have to have a bet and simply to enjoy the unusual spectacle that this unique meeting provides.
Pending:
1 point each way Bless Him at 12-1 for the Shergar Cup Mile, paying 1/5th odds, 4 places.
1 point each way Ghostwriter at 20-1 for the Juddmonte Stakes, paying 1/5th odds, 3 places.
1 point each way Naqeeb at 16-1 for the Ebor Handicap, paying 1/5th odds, 5 places.
Last weekend: – 1 points.
1 point each way Super Superjack at 13-2 for the Coral Goodwood Handicap, paying 1/5th odds, 7 places. Unplaced. – 2 points.
1 point each way Blue For You at 16-1 for the Coral Golden Mile, paying 1/4 odds, 4 places. Unplaced. – 2 points.
1 point each way Darkness at 15-2 for the Coral Golden Mile, paying 1/5th odds, 6 places. 4th. + 0.5 points.
1 point each way Euchen Glen at 16-1 for the Coral Summer Handicap, paying 1/5th odds, 5 places. 4th. + 2.2 points.
1 point each way Rowayeh at 10-1 for the Coral We’re Here For It Handicap, paying 1/5th odds, 5 places. 3rd. Rule 4 deduction of 35p in the £. + 0.3 points.
2024 flat season running total + 8.4 points.
2023-4 jumps season: + 42.01 points on all tips.
2023 flat season: – 48.22 points on all tips.
2022-3 jumps season: + 54.3 points on all tips.
- My gambling record for the past eight years: I have made a profit in 15 of the past 17 seasons to recommended bets. To a 1 point level stake over this period, the overall profit of has been 517 points. All bets are either 1 point each way or 2 points win (a ‘point’ is your chosen regular stake).
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