The horse racing broadcaster offers up his five tips for Day 3 of the York Ebor Festival.
Speed stunted by more cut in the ground will be the theme on Day 3 of York’s Ebor meeting when the Group 1 Nunthorpe holds central billing on ITV’s five race coverage.
The opener is a typically competitive handicap where cut in the ground should suit INTENSE VISION 12/1 (13:50 York) as he handled those conditions fine when winning two races in France for Henri-Francois Devin as a two-year-old. He was drawn on the wrong side in the Britannia before having to come from too far back at Goodwood, when despite finishing 11th, he was actually beaten less than 4l. His dam won on soft and the slower ground should make things unfold a little less quickly than they did on the Sussex Downs. Blue Courvoisier was also drawn on the wrong side at Ascot before placing in a different handicap at Goodwood, but his pedigree suggests he is not certain to be suited by the rain as much as Intense Vision.
Rain can also help the chances of CABALLO DE MAR 15/8 (14:25 York) in the Weatherbys Lonsdale Cup. A Group 1 winner in France, he made Sweet William work hard to run him down in the Sagaro before finding the Gold Cup too much in the Ascot heat. Given a chance to recover from those exertions, where he had to work hard early to get a position, he has been given a real chance by the retirement of Trawlerman of gaining his biggest domestic success. Connections of Amiloc will be hoping for better luck at the stalls after he lost his rider after a few strides at Goodwood, and the same owners Pride of Arras got withdrawn after rearing in the gates in the Juddmonte, but he must settle better than is sometimes the case if he is to see out the trip.
The juvenile race of the day is the Group 2 Gimcrack stakes where the North have a leading chance with the unbeaten ARAPAHO GOLD 5/2 (15:00 York).He first caught the eye when clocking some very fast sectionals in the closing stages on his debut at Thirsk but can also look a bit of a handful and got withdrawn at Beverley when getting upset in the stalls on his next intended start. He deserved plenty of credit for his last start win at Newbury as he got very lit up after being bumped early on and so showed a different side in seeing the race out so well after expending so much energy. He is clearly a live wire, and the ground would be a query but he has plenty of talent if it can all be channelled in the right direction.
Next up is the feature race, the Group 1 Nunthorpe where a slow start looked to significantly hinder the chances of NIGHT RAIDER 12/1 (15:35 York) at Goodwood last time as early speed is probably his chief asset. Pace holds up well in York sprints and he has seen his races out a lot better since being gelded. He handled some cut in the ground at Haydock in the Temple and ran well in the race last year behind Asfoora, and at the time of writing a low draw would be the preferred option on the straight course though this may switch during the week if the rain gets into the ground where the majority of runners have travelled. As previously written, recent top-level sprints in the UK have proved hard to solve with nine of the last 13 UK Group 1’s won by horses at double figure prices, including five at 25-1 or bigger.
I am always a big fan of horses rejoining yards where they had previous success and PRIMO LARA 5/1 (16:10 York) is a case in point in the last of the five ITV races. Sold out of Jane Chapple-Hyam’s yard for 65k in July 2025, the yard bought him back a year later for £22k and it immediately paid dividends with a victory at Ascot on King George day. He has been raised 7lb for that victory but did win here on good to soft ground as a young horse for the yard and Colin Keane, having his first UK ride for Jane, is an interesting jockey booking.
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