Andrew Asquith returns with his ante-post column and has a selection in the Sky Bet Ebor at York on Saturday.
Weekend View: Saturday August 23
1pt e.w. Almosh'her in the Sky Bet Ebor at 25/1 (General 1/4 1,2,3,4)
The Ebor Festival at York starts on Wednesday and it looks set to be another terrific week on the Knavesmire. The Ebor itself takes place on Saturday, along with the City of York Stakes, which will be the first running since being upgraded to Group 1 status. The ground at the time of writing is described as good to firm, good in places, and irrigation is planned to maintain that description with little to no rain forecast.
Irish-trained horses have won six of the last 10 renewals of the Sky Bet Ebor and they are set to be well represented once more, the Willie Mullins-trained Hipop de Loire, who was impressive over hurdles at Galway recently, a short-priced ante-post favourite.
He finished fifth in last year's renewal from a 1lb lower mark and would have likely finished second but for a luckless run, so it is easy to see the case for him. Backing horses at such prices for prizes like the Ebor don’t make much appeal, though, and there are other horses who are also well treated further down the list.
The horse I came down on is ALMOSH’HER, who has some very good form in the book, plus course winning form, which is always a positive in my opinion at York.
He made a winning debut for Charlie Fellowes over a mile at Southwell, before being narrowly beaten when attempting to give weight to a Ralph Beckett-trained newcomer who could be anything at Kempton.
The fact he started a strong odds-on favourite for his handicap debut when resuming winning ways over a mile and a half on his final start for that yard suggests they though he was extremely well handicapped from a mark of 88 and, even though he only just held on at the line, he still looked like a big work in progress.
He ran green throughout on that occasion, having to make his own running and still showing clear signs of greenness, hanging right over to the stand rail in the straight but finding all the while.
Almosh’her made the perfect start for Karl Burke when following up in a useful handicap at this course which ensured his place in the Ebor, again only narrowly, but also with a bit up his sleeve, going through that race like much the best horse at the weights and only doing enough in front.
That form could hardly have worked out any better, too, with the runner-up, Stressfree, winning from a mark of 97 next time, the third, Plague de Havre winning the Old Newton Cup by four lengths from a mark of 92, and the fifth, The Reverand, also bolting up at Ripon from a mark of 94.
I can easily overlook his run at Royal Ascot last time, given he was drawn in stall 22 of 22, and he never got any cover racing wide throughout, forfeiting plenty of ground in the process. It was also hard to make up ground from off the pace in that race and he’s much better than that.
One question mark is this two furlong longer trip, as he is a horse who races with plenty of exuberance, and whether he settles in the early stages or not is a slight concern. However, he has been gelded since Royal Ascot, a procedure that can have a positive effect on such types, and the Ebor is always a big-field event which is usually run at a true pace.
Almosh’her still looks well handicapped from a mark of 98 and, crucially, he’s far from exposed after just five starts. Given the margin of his three victories cumulatively add up to less than half a length, he’s a hard horse for the handicapper to get a grip of, and there should be plenty more to come from him.
Published at 1612 BST on 18/08/25
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