York Ebor Festival Day One Preview

In the first race of the day it sees a jam packed field of sprinters seeking for glory in the Class 2 Handicap and with so many runners heading to post we have two selections.

The first at the shorter price is the David O'Meara trained Arecibo who has proved hard to win with in the past but is now down to a decent handicap mark that he could take advantage of.

He was a close third in this event 12 months ago off 4lb higher and on that basis holds every chance, especially handling soft conditions if the rain comes.

The other runner in the field that could spring a surprise at a bigger price is the Tim Easterby trained Hyperfocus who is due a big run in these types of handicaps.

The six year old having not won in some time has seen his mark dramatically drop and he is now currently 2lb below his last winning mark.

Soft ground is what the gelding craves and with the heavens set to open over the Knavesmire it could play to his strengths.

An exciting race on day one sees the Group Three Acomb Stakes and Godolphin juvenile Cloudbridge could be something very special.

Although the field looks to hold some strong two year olds, this son of Hard Spun has an exceptional pedigree and looked a sharp type on debut.

He went on to land a seven furlong Novice Stakes event at Leicester, clearing away from the field to win by just under four lengths and that has to set the form with the third place that day since franking the form.

The Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes has thrown out some superb winners over the years and looking at the field it will be a surprise if it does not do so again.

John Gosden is in superb form at the moment with two group winners at the weekend in France and he fields the expensive Darain in this event.

The three year old has a stand out pedigree being a son of Dubawi out of Dar Re Mi which sees him related to superstars Too Darn Hot and Lah Ti Dar.

He has only been seen on a racecourse twice during his career and he is currently unbeaten showing ability on both quick and slow ground.

The feature race on day one of the Ebor meeting is the Group One Juddmonte International and we are siding with the John Gosden trained Lord North.

One of the most progressive horses on the the flat this term has been the John Gosden trained runner who last season was running in Handicaps and this year has stepped up to land fiercely contested Group Ones.

Consistency is something that this horse is known for, not finishing outside the top two in his last six events and recently showing his class in better races.

This term Lord North is unbeaten landing the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Haydock and off the back of that taking the Group One Prince Of Wales's Stakes.

Although this will be his toughest assignment to date he warrants respect from the field and could just be the value angle.

Another big handicap and at York and we are taking the same approach as earlier, with having two each way selections due to the extra places on offer.

Our first pick is the Roger Charlton trained True Destiny who gets the mount of Ryan Moore which is always a bonus.

The five year old gelding has been a frequent runner at two miles and has performed to a good standard only coming out of the top three once in his last nine outings.

Last time out at Goodwood he ran a credible race over 2 miles 4 furlongs and now dropping back to his favoured trip off just 2lb higher, he has to be on the shortlist.

At a much bigger price Indianapolis for trainer James Given is another exciting prospect who always runs his races out and has been begging for a step up in trip.

He is fairly versatile winning on both good and soft ground meaning he should be able to handle any conditions and having stayed on well over 1 mile 6 furlongs last time out at Glorious Goodwood, the extra trip should suit.

The penultimate event on the Knavesmire is the Fillies' Sprint Handicap over five furlongs and Dancin Inthestreet for William Haggas is the class angle in this race.

Still only on a mark of of 87 makes her likely to still improve and having ran credibly in similar events this season makes her one of the more likely types to go close.

This season she has ran four times, finishing third on three different occasions, one of them behind Art Power in the Holyroodhouse Handicap at Ascot and that looks some decent form.

The final selection of the day sees a Class 2 Nursery Handicap and Cairn Island for Kevin Ryan could be a nice bit of value at 11/2.

The two year old son of Kodiac was bought for 525,000gns as a yearling and now represents the yellow and black polka dot silks of Sheikh Mohammed Obeid.

The colt ha had three runs to date using the first two to rally find his ideal trip and when dropped to six furlongs got off the mark at the third time of asking.

That win at Ayr looked nice enough on the eye and Kevin Ryan has had a few runners go close in this contest in the past.