Three York clashes to savour including Ombudsman and Delacroix rematch

Delacroix v Ombudsman (Juddmonte International Stakes, Wednesday)

With all due respect to classy filly See The Fire and Japan Derby winner Danon Decile, this year’s Juddmonte International centres around a mouthwatering rematch between Prince of Wales’s Stakes hero Ombudsman and Delacroix, Aidan O'Brien's colt having lowered the former's colours with a late burst under Ryan Moore in the Coral-Eclipse.

There are many who came away from Sandown fairly convinced that the form could be turned around in a slightly different scenario, given that Ombudsman was only beaten a neck having raced keenly and looked to have done a lot of the hard work before being picked off in the final strides.

Delacroix has a sharp turn of foot but also stays the trip well and it will be interesting to see if Moore reverts to more prominent tactics, something he pulled off so well on City Of Troy here 12 months ago and many of us were expecting to see play out before plans appeared to go up in smoke soon after the start in Esher last month.

The layers have the O'Brien horse favourite but there’s not much in it and there could be a few twists and turns yet in the story of the market before the gates go back at 3.35 on day one.

Minnie Hauk v Estrange (Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks, Thursday)

A forward ride from Ryan Moore on Minnie Hauk looks almost guaranteed here, the daughter of Frankel having raced on or close to the speed throughout her career to date, including when landing the Oaks and Irish version on her two most recent starts.

She was more workmanlike than some onlookers would have preferred in lowering the colours of Wemighttakedlongway at the Curragh last month, but you get the overriding impression she’s the sort of filly who only really does enough, and it’s no surprise she retains the Timeform ‘p’ indicating the possibility of further improvement to come.

The David O’Meara-trained Estrange also has the same ‘p’ and she’s now only 6lb below the likely favourite on the ratings scale following back-to-back wins at Haydock earlier this season.

Her comeback victory in the Pinnacle Stakes was – both on paper and from a visual perspective – more impressive that the most recent neck defeat of Scenic in the Lancashire Oaks, but the front two did pull a long way clear of the others last time and Estrange is obviously held in the highest regard, with talk of a possible Arc de Triomphe tilt if all goes well on the Knavesmire.

You would imagine the daughter of Night Of Thunder would be more of a threat to Minnie Hauk if there’s rain (nothing appreciable in the forecast), but this is a generational clash we’d all like to see and hopefully it comes to fruition.

Rosallion v Never So Brave (Sky Bet City Of York Stakes, Friday)

By no means a two-horse race but the prospect of Rosallion dropping back to seven furlongs for the first time since his juvenile days and taking on the rapidly-progressive Never So Brave has all the hallmarks of a very watchable episode.

If Richard Hannon had a lump in his throat after pride-and-joy Rosallion was nosed out in a photo-finish with Docklands at Royal Ascot then it was clear he could barely find his voice at all in the immediate aftermath of last month’s Sussex Stakes.

With odds-on favourite Field Of Gold failing to fire, it was left to Qirat and Richard Kingscote to nick another top-class contest from right under Rosallion’s nose, the thwarted four-year-old looking an unlucky loser all over again.

Can he set the record straight at York? Will he even line up having been confirmed for this Sunday's Jacques Le Marois? Let’s hope so as Andrew Balding’s Never So Brave is almost certainly going to be lying in wait and he won’t go down without a fight based on recent evidence.

One of a few to seemingly improve for leaving Sir Michael Stoute’s yard last winter, Never So Brave won the Buckingham Palace in tremendous fashion from a mark of 105 – a clear sign of a Group horse in a handicap if ever there was one – and he did just as well to run down tearaway leader Point Lynas as a different sort of scenario played out on the Round Course in Ascot’s Summer Mile Stakes.

That form has not worked out well since but Never So Brave will have no issue with a drop back in trip or the prospect of fast ground, and reading between the lines it sounds a lot like this newly-upgraded York event has been the strong-travelling horse's target for a little while now.

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