17th-Jun-2017

You can understand why Ekhtiyaar is favourite for this, he is a fashionable and progressive horse, he has run just four times, and he was well-backed before his last race, when he got up close home at Newmarket to beat Poet’s Princess by a head.

However, he was raised 5lb for that, and the race is not working out well.  He is short today.

I am backing Golden Apollo against him.  Tim Easterby’s horse caught the eye at York on his debut this season when he finished fourth behind Battered on easy ground over seven furlongs.

He didn’t have the run of the race that day, he was wider than ideal and he raced away from the main action on the far side.  In the circumstances, he did well to get as close to a useful rival as he did. 

Third at Wetherby next time, he looked very good at Pontefract over six furlongs last time.  He travelled well through his race, and he finished off powerfully up the hill, coming clear of his rivals, with Parnassian running on for second.

That was over six furlongs on fast ground, similar to the conditions that he is going to encounter today.  York’s six furlongs is sharper than Pontefract’s, and that is a bit of a worry, because he does stay seven, but he has pace too.  He is proven at York, he is well-drawn in stall one, and the worry about the sharpness of the trip is more than covered by the other positives and his odds.

GOLDEN APOLLO WON (ADV 8/1, SP 5/1)