The Daily Yankee
NAP OF THE DAY: Pop Dancer, (1650 York), 1pt win, 8/1:
He has had three runs at 5f and the form looks rock solid throughout. The horse that beat him on debut, perhaps fortunately, has comfortably won a Newmarket nursery, whilst there have been winners in the horses Pop Dancer has beaten in subsequent all the way wins at Pontefract and Musselburgh. A mark of 90 looks fair, and his trainer loves to win these York handicaps. His biggest danger may be front runner Homespin, but he is drawn in the next door stall so Pop is ideally placed to stalk and pounce.
Gunmetal, (1355 York), 12/1: This is a quality sprint at the odd distance of 5.5f. That may stretch a few of the pure blasters, including our 3pt winning nap from Saturday Orvar, although he will surely go well. Another Saturday winner, Dakota Gold has to go close although he may not want it to dry up too much, whilst Justanotherbottle looks sure to run a big race. However, Gunmetal beat Dakota Gold at Ripon last year and ducked a rematch last weekend only due to the rain. On this quicker surface he can be a huge contender having been a fast finishing fourth over the bare 5f here earlier in the year as well as “winning” his side of the draw at Royal Ascot..
Persuasion, (1425 York), 7/2: always a useful 2yo race, this has attracted a number of lightly raced maiden winners. The well bred Persuasion catches the eye most after an impressive debut win at Goodwood. You need to be a well balanced colt to win there and he did so smoothly after not getting the cleanest of runs. Plenty of dangers, but the Charlie Hills yard has been in awesome form all season and this looks like the best of his 2yos seen so far, jockey James Doyle keeps the ride.
Dubawi Fifty. (1615 York ), 7/1: Has a long history of competing in leading staying handicaps and after a 4th in a Chester Cup and 2nd at Royal Ascot in 2018 he was a year off before a close 2nd on return in the Northumberland Plate. There are two ways to looks at a rare below par effort at Goodwood last time – either he didn’t enjoy being held up, or he “bounced” from that Ascot run after the long break. Either way it may be worth forgiving as this track should suit his prominent run style and the booking of Frankie looks a marriage made in heaven.. Previous course winner and recent Ascot winner Eddystone Rock looks a big danger, but there is enough pace on here to make this more of a stamina test than he may appreciate.
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