Willie Mullins has two concerns heading into the Sky Bet Ebor with ante-post favourite Stratum.
By David Ord
The first is completely out of his hands.
At this stage the five-year-old needs at least six horses to come out before now and the big day to get a place in the final line-up. Then there’s the near three-furlong drop back in trip following his runaway win in the newly-inaugurated JLT Cup at Newbury.
"Going on previous history he should get in, statistically speaking, but with the extra prize-money this year I don’t know. Hopefully he will," the trainer mused.
"He was very impressive at Newbury. With natural improvement after Ascot I thought he was going to turn in on the bridle and be there or thereabouts but who knows in handicaps.
"You never know what's going to be coming out of the pack, something else might have been unlucky in the same race at Ascot, something might have missed that and have a lovely handicap mark, but we went to Newbury thinking we had a real shot at that new prize."
The handicapper was suitably impressed and while the subsequent 8lb hike in the weights has aided his bid to get into the Ebor – can he defy it and win the £500,000 showpiece?
"I'm hoping there is improvement but I don’t gallop them to find out. You do hope your work and hope on the day the improvement will come," Mullins said.
"We’re going back three furlongs and that’s my problem. We’re going back three and up a few pounds and that’s going to make it tougher on him – if we were going up three furlongs I’d say 'right, we’ll take that'. But going back to a sharper race is going to make it tough. I’m hoping he still has it in hand though.
"With the type of race the Ebor is I think there’ll be a very fast pace which will bring his stamina into account but there could be something else that’s got in there under the radar. There usually is. When was the last time the favourite won the Ebor?"
The market leader isn’t the only Mullins-trained horse heading to the York showpiece and he warns against underestimating Whiskey Sour.
"He's in good form. He ran well at Galway, you could say his best performances have all been there and it’s the exact opposite to York being undulating, right-handed and with a stiff uphill finish! I think he'll be all right on the track next week though and he deserves his place in it.
"He’s a nice horse and I give him a squeak. He’s not there to just make up the entries."
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