We catch up with trainer Paddy Twomey who talks through the claims of some of his possible runners at the 2023 Sky Bet Ebor Festival.
ROSSCARBERY (Yorkshire Oaks)
"She started off in the Munster Oaks and she won that well. I think the mile and a half is her optimum trip, dropped to 10 furlongs she ended up in a little bit of a muddle in the Pretty Polly.
"It’s a race she’s had no luck in – she got disqualified from it the year before – so we’ll just draw a line through that day. She ran a good race at the Curragh over 1m6f last time, Emily Dickinson beat her, and that should leave her spot on for the Yorkshire Oaks.
"I think the Yorkshire Oaks presents the ideal set of conditions for her. Track, trip, the long straight, the high tempo with some good fillies in it, it should suit her very well. She’s a high-cruising speed in her races, she travels very well and she finds generously."
JUST BEAUTIFUL (Sky Bet City Of York Stakes)
"The City Of York Stakes is the ideal race for her, seven furlongs on a flat track like York. The one thing she does need is fast ground and if conditions are quick it is a race we’d love to go for with her.
"She’ll be fine on good ground, good or better, but she wouldn’t want any soft in the description. A flat track suits her and I think she’ll be right at home there.
"I’d like to think she’s a Group 1 horse. She’s won her Group 2 and the idea is to win a Group 1 with her."
FRENCH CLAIM (Sky Bet Ebor)
"He’s at the opposite end of the going spectrum (to Just Beautiful). He wants soft or heavy ground and if we got the rain he’d be a horse that will line up and take his chance.
"A lot of his better form is on soft or heavy ground and he seems to adapt to those conditions better than most horses.
"A mark of 108 is probably a fair reflection of his ability, it’s a mark that guarantees a run. I think there will probably be horses that are better handicapped than him.
"We enjoyed it last year, Earl Of Tyrone was very progressive, he’d earnt his right to run in it and he ran a very good race (in third). This horse has been at this rating for a while, placed in a Derby, runs best fresh, which is why we’ve kept him fresh, and I’d like to think he’s good enough to be in the shake up."
More Sky Bet Ebor video previews...
Aidan O'Brien: My York Ebor Festival team
Willie Mullins: My Sky Bet Ebor Team
Joseph O'Brien: My Sky Bet Ebor Team
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