Andrew Asquith provides an overview of the key things to note on Wednesday.
Three points of interest
Italy remains a smart prospect
The Tattersalls Acomb Stakes (14:25) at York continues to go from strength to strength, Phoenix of Spain and Chaldean a couple of recent winners who went on to be successful in classics, and Aidan O’Brien saddled The Lion In Winter to produce one of the best performances in the race’s history 12 months ago.
This year O’Brien is represented by another promising colt in Italy, who was all the rage in the betting and ran to a high level when making a winning debut at Leopardstown in May, doing very well to reel in one who got first run.
He failed to land the odds in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last time, but he still looked rough around the edges, plus he wasn’t helped by encountering some trouble in running when starting to go through the gears.
The horse that beat him that day also looks an exciting prospect, so there was no disgrace in his effort that day, and he’s a horse who remains open to improvement. Italy sets the standard on Timeform ratings – he’s at least 4lb clear – and he’s strongly fancied to get his head back in front now.
Ombudsman expected to reverse Eclipse form
Ombudsman remains Timeform’s top rated older horse in Europe despite being beaten by Delacroix in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown last time and there’s reason to believe he can reverse that form in the Juddmonte International Stakes (15:35) at York.
There was an element to him being well suited by being held up in a strongly-run race when running out an impressive winner of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, but his excellent turn of foot settled that Group 1 in a matter of strides, and he looked a colt right out of the top drawer.
It is possible that he found the Eclipse coming a tad too soon just 17 days after that monster performance, and he was only just caught close home by Delacroix having been sent into the lead around two furlongs out.
French horse Birr Castle is seemingly in here to make sure there is a good pace for Ombudsman to aim at and, as it stands, he is better judged on his Royal Ascot performance rather than his latest one. He’s been freshened up since and he still has the potential to break into the top-class bracket.
Dublin Bay still ahead of his mark
The Sky Bet Nursery Handicap (17:20) which closes the card at York on Wednesday is always a deep contest and this year’s renewal looks no different, but Dublin Bay looks a horse to keep on the right side.
He had shown just useful form in his first three starts, but was backed as though defeat was out of the question on his handicap debut at Ffos Las last month, and he never gave his supporters an ounce of worry.
That was a straightforward success which produced a good timefigure for the grade and he followed up in even more impressive fashion under a penalty at Doncaster four days later, scoring in the style of a horse who has plenty more to offer.
The handicapper has had his say by hitting him with a 10lb rise in the weights, while this is also a much deeper race he faces now, but he is at least 3lb clear on Timeform weight-adjusted ratings, and he still has the ‘Timeform small p’ attached to his rating to highlight he’s open to further improvement.
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