Mike Cattermole York Ebor Festival tips including Logician in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur
Mike Cattermole reckons Logician can tee up a shot at the St Leger with victory in York's Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes - don't miss his Wednesday preview.
From the very first running of the Juddmonte International, under the guise then of the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup in 1972, when the mighty Brigadier Gerard lost his unbeaten record, York’s late summer highlight was soon to become renowned as a race where the very best could be humbled.
To be fair, when looking at its impressive CV, the Juddmonte is not quite the graveyard for champions that you may believe as too many have triumphed here, but there is no argument that when this race does shock, it does so with bells on. Golden Horn was the last big name to be beaten here – by 50-1 shot Arabian Queen in 2015.
So, will Crystal Ocean, this year’s hot favourite, be vulnerable? It is of course entirely possible, even on the back of such a fine effort when coming off just second best in an immense duel with Enable in Ascot’s King George last month.
He has had over three weeks to recover and his trainer Sir Michael Stoute knows better than most what it takes to win this, as he seeks his seventh success in the race.
Crystal Ocean drops back in trip too and even if he doesn’t quite manage to run to the form he did last month, he still might be good enough to pull it off. He is so genuine and consistent and has not finished out of the first two in his last 12 starts.
King Of Comedy may be his biggest danger and the step up in trip might be the making of him. Highly progressive, he so nearly landed the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and was in front of Circus Maximus a stride or two after the line.
He has his quirks, as he has refused to go to post, can hang and has carried his head awkwardly but we don’t know how good he can be.
It could be extremely significant that Ryan Moore has rejected Circus Maximus in favour of Japan, third in the Derby and highly impressive winner of the King Edward VII Stakes and less impressively, but still decisively, in the Grand Prix de Paris.
Ryan clearly believes he will have the pace to cope with the drop back in trip.
Elarqam put up a career best over the course and distance in the York Stakes here last month but that was on soft ground, while Lord Glitters, the Queen Anne winner, is another intriguing contender who used to win at around this trip and was a running-on third to Almond Eye in the Dubai Turf in March over nine furlongs.
John Gosden and Frankie Dettori, whatever their fate with King Of Comedy, could have the last laugh with Logician in an underwhelming Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes.
💫 Logician - John Gosden's unbeaten Frankel colt - is 12/1 @SkyBet for the William Hill St Leger at @DoncasterRaces following last night's taking success at Newbury...pic.twitter.com/9kt4UyMvxw
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) July 5, 2019
Unbeaten in three starts, the grey son of Frankel hacked up off a mark of 90 at Newbury last time, looking to have been rather underestimated by the assessor!
He still has something to find with all of his four rivals here (of which Jalmoud is the only one without a St Leger entry) but shapes as though he will be up to the task. He does seem rather short, though.
Nayef Road was a gutsy winner of the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood when he beat Constantinople a neck. However, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt is 4lb better off.
Final Venture has not won a race for two years and has another crack at the opening Symphony Group Handicap in which he finished second 12 months ago (behind El Astronaute).
Although 4lb higher this time, the front-running Final Venture has been in brilliant form, running second on all four of his starts this term including in the Scottish Sprint Cup at Musselburgh (off 1lb lower than now), a Listed event at Naas and most recently in a competitive Shergar Cup Dash at Ascot.
If Oisin Murphy gets the fractions right, he will be hard to peg back from his high draw which dominated the race 12 months ago. But is he a touch vulnerable?
Justanotherbottle, runner-up in the Stewards' Cup in 2018 off a mark of 101, came back to something like his best in this year’s renewal when fifth to Khaadem.
He looks dangerously well handicapped now off 96 and is narrowly preferred to strike for the Declan Carroll team. He is just as effective at 5f or 6f.
Dakota Gold, a recent course winner, is in top form but will find this ground quite different to the soft at Ripon on Saturday when storming home in the Great St Wilfrid.
Anything could happen in the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes with eight last time out winners and it is a matter of who has improved the most since.
Persuasion showed a nice turn of foot to win at Goodwood in a reasonable time while Joseph O’Brien brings Vitalogy over after surprising at 25/1 when dismissing a big field of maidens at Naas.
The suggestion is Valdermoro who did the job very professionally at Doncaster last month in the best time of three races over seven furlongs that evening and quickening really well.
His close debut third behind the future Superlative Stakes winner at Haydock reads well, too.
SELECTIONS
1.55 JUSTANOTHERBOTTLE, 2.25 VALDERMORO, 3.00 LOGICIAN, 3.35 CRYSTAL OCEAN
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