Our columnist with five horses who are on his hit list for next week's Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York.
Aidan O’Brien has won the Group 2 Sky Bet Great Voltigeur on Wednesday (15:00) on five occasions and the Ballydoyle team are responsible for five of the ten entries.
PIERRE BONNARD looks St Leger material and arrives fresh (52 days) having not raced since finishing third in the Irish Derby in late June. By Camelot out of the Group 1 winner Sultanina, he was bought for €280,000 and developed into a high-class juvenile last year.
Successful in three of his four races, including the Group 3 Zetland Stakes at HQ (1m 2f : Good/Firm) and Group 1 Criterium de Saint Cloud (1m 2f : Very Soft) in the space of 15 days, he was one of the ante-post favourites for Epsom glory during the winter. Disappointing on his reappearance in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown in April, he performed much better next time over the same C&D when a short head runner-up behind James J Braddock in the Group 3 Derby Trial.
Sent off 7/2 at Epsom, he didn’t look at home on the ground or track eventually finishing seventh under Christophe Soumillon. Back to something approaching his best at the Curragh (Good) on a kinder surface, he was only two lengths behind Benvenuto Cellini and Christmas Day. His form figures on good and good to firm are 123 and his record over a mile-and-a-half is 73. Five pounds better off with the runner-up, he looks set to play a leading role on Wednesday en route to Town Moor.
