ITV Racing Selections – Thursday 18th August
The Sky Bet York Ebor Festival continues on Thursday with ITV broadcasting five of the seven live races. Racing Tips have provided insight into all five scheduled races on the Knavesmire, with a selection to follow in each. Check those out below, alongside today’s best bets – which are free to view on-site now.
Dramatised (13:50 York)
Trainer Karl Burke landed this contest in 2019 with Living In The Past and will have high hopes of doubling his tally in this year’s renewal courtesy of the unbeaten DRAMATISED.
A daughter of Showcasing, she created a huge impression when readily defeating George Boughey’s subsequent dual scorer Malrescia (now rated 92) by four lengths on her debut at Newmarket in April. Following that impressive opening success, connections sent the filly to contest the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot where she again stamped herself as a high-class juvenile in the making, cruising into contention under Danny Tudhope before sealing victory with a potent turn of foot to win by a comfortable 1¾ lengths at the line.
Dramatised should have little trouble shrugging off a 3lb penalty on Thursday afternoon and considering how well she hit the line last time out, the step up to six furlongs could potentially unlock further improvement from her and she has every chance of stretching her unbeaten record to three here.
Dare To Hope (14:25 York)
Richard Hannon has won four of the last six renewals of this contest so it’s certainly no surprise to see his only runner Shouldvebeenaring at the top of the betting. Another trainer who has enjoyed recent success in this contest is Richard Fahey who struck in 2018 with Red Balloons and will be confident of going close in this year’s contest with DARE TO HOPE.
Purchased for £20,000 as a yearling, the son of Camacho made the ideal start for connections on his debut at Nottingham back in April, overcoming clear signs of inexperience to defeat George Scott’s subsequent Listed winner Rocket Rodney by 1¼ lengths. Beaten a short head under a penalty on his following start at Ripon, Dare To Hope was arguably unlucky not to finish closer than twelfth when meeting trouble in running in the ultra-competitive Super Sprint at Newbury just last month. Sent to contest a Nursery at York a week later, Richard Fahey’s colt again ran a race full of promise, travelling much the best before finding Kevin Ryan’s Gimcrack-bound Catch The Paddy too strong in the closing stages.
Rated 90, Dare To Hope appears to hold leading claims on these terms and connections will expect the two-year-old to take another step forward on Thursday afternoon and record his second career victory.
Cruyff Turn (15:00 York)
Although he finds himself on a 5lb higher mark this time around, Tim Easterby will be confident of another bold show from last year’s winner CRUYFF TURN.
The gelded son of Dutch Art enjoyed a tremendous 4yo campaign last year for connections, with his handicap mark climbing from 77 to 98 over the course of the season following four victories from just nine starts on the track.
Far from disgraced in his opening two starts this term, Cruyff Turn returned to winning ways at York’s Dante Festival in May, gamely fending off the challenge of Michael Dods’ course regular Brunch in the Hambleton Handicap. Down the field in the Royal Hunt Cup on his following start, Cruyff Turn returned to form and was strong at the finish when finishing sixth over seven furlongs in the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket on his most recent start last month.
Although he does remain on a career-high mark, Cruyff Turn should appreciate the return to the mile trip on Thursday afternoon and given that the five-year-old is 2-2 from over this course and distance, Tim Easterby’s charge is extremely difficult to rule out.
Tuesday (15:35 York)
Aidan O’Brien has a tremendous record in this contest and will be bidding for his seventh victory in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks on Thursday afternoon. All of his previous winners have been three-year-olds which bodes particularly well for supporters of TUESDAY, who returns to the track following a short break.
The three-year-old was having her fourth start in just 55 days when running way below her best in the Irish Derby at the Curragh when last seen in June. Beaten ten lengths behind Ralph Beckett’s impressive winner Westover, Aidan O’Brien’s filly never travelled with any zest that day and perhaps her previous exertions had taken it’s toll at that point. Prior to that below-par effort, the daughter of Galileo had previously found the frame in the English and Irish 1000 Guineas in May before appreciating the step up in trip when edging out Emily Upjohn by a short head in a thrilling renewal of the Epsom Oaks at the start of June.
A full sister to seven-time Group 1 winner Minding, Tuesday still has plenty of scope for further improvement at this stage of her career and Aidan O’Brien is likely to have her spot on for Thursday’s feature contest following a 54-day layoff.
Tuesday (right) can land Thursday’s Darley Yorkshire Oaks for trainer Aidan O’Brien.
Haskoy (16:10 York)
Ralph Beckett’s HASKOY certainly falls into the ‘could be anything’ category after just one outing but it was certainly hard not to be impressed by how easily the daughter of Golden Horn put the race to bed on her debut at Wolverhampton twenty days ago.
Despite being slowly away under jockey Hector Crouch, Haskoy soon found her stride and quickly found herself in a prominent position heading out on the final circuit. Pulled towards the outside of the field turning for home, the three-year-old quickened up noticeably well and soon put daylight between herself and her toiling rivals, stretching clear inside the final furlong to win by seven lengths. Whilst many may question what she beat that day, there is actually some substance to the form, with the second and third rated 89 and 87 respectively.
Closely related to Group 1 winner Spinning Queen, it seems fairly significant that Ralph Beckett has decided to head straight down the Pattern route with Haskoy and she could very well develop into a top-class filly for connections.