The Daily Yankee
NAP OF THE DAY: Ripp Orf, (1510 Ascot), 2pts, 6/1:
A superb handicap full of blog favourites. Raising Sand won this for us last year and has his conditions again but is 12lbs higher. Ripp Orf was second then and has a 13lb pull, he should surely have won here last time but for getting going too late, and would have been 3pt nap material but for the surface bringing some big dangers into play. We have backed Kynren a few times and these are very much his conditions. Bedouin’s Story should also like this ground but is a lot higher than for his York romp against weaker oppo. Doubtless either Raising Sand or Kynren will have us screaming in frustration, but we have to keep faith with Ripp Orf.
Dakota Gold, (1400 Ascot), 11/4: has been in blistering form all Summer and handled the step out of handicaps by coming a close second at Group 3 level on good ground at Newbury last time. Back at listed level, and crucially back on a soft surface, he can return to winning ways in a race that is mostly comprised of fellow upgraded handicappers.
Di Fede, (1615 Ascot), 10/3: ran away from a big field to win this in similarly soft ground last year. Her best run this season was back here on soft at the Royal meeting and reunited with her favourite conditions she should repeat the dose with ease for De Sousa.
Pendleton, (1650 Ascot), 6/1: this stiff 5f on very soft ground will sort these out pretty quickly. Came From The Dark has a clear chance on his easy win under similar conditions last time, but a 10lb rise demands more. Instead we very much like Pendleton. He has been a nearly horse all season, including winning his side of Ayr’s Bronze Cup last time only to finish 5th overall. Handles this surface and his low draw might be favourable given that the far rail was protected yesterday to provide fresher ground for today.
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