Timeform TV Focus: ITV racing tips for Saturday

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York

1.50 1 pt – 18 Star Jasmine 11/2 & 0.5 pt - 1 Andaleep 14/1

2019 was the last year that there was three-year-old representation in the Queen Mother’s Cup, three runners of that age taking part who included the winner Arctic Fox, and Star Jasmine, the sole runner from that age group this year, looks very interesting. For starters there’s a generous weight-for-age allowance of 15 lb whereas, in Timeform’s opinion, she should only be getting 11 lb from five-year-olds plus, and 10 lb from four-year-olds. On top of that, she’s only had four runs in her life, has still got clear scope for further improvement, and her one run to date in a handicap came in a slowly-run race at Hamilton which didn’t see her to best effect at all. She’s seen all of her races to date out very well, including a well-run 1m on heavy ground when winning at Bath, and this greater test of stamina could see her find more progress. We also want to keep Andaleep on side. He’s been a pretty consistent operator throughout his career, but particularly so since joining the Kubler stable a couple of years ago, winning seven times, including when scoring readily at this track last summer. This represents a drop in class from his most recent run when unsuited by the way the race unfolded in a competitive handicap here at the Dante meeting, and the booking of Brodie Hampson looks significant.

2.25 1 pt – 5 Yanifer 8/1

A typically rock-hard big-field York handicap with few that can be ruled out with confidence and the one that we’ll side with is Yanifer. He was very progressive as a four-year-old, with four wins including one over C&D. He’s had his problems since but there was plenty to like about his reappearance at Chester last month, a bit too free up with the pace but still beaten only three quarters of a length when third behind Spirit Genie. His mark still looks workable, just 2 lb higher while he’s versatile with regards ground, something that looks an asset with it hard to be sure quite what conditions will be with rain forecast.

3.00 1 pt – 1 Chesspiece 13/2

It’s hard to have bags of confidence in Chesspiece after he performed so lamentably in the Henry II Stakes at Sandown just over three weeks ago, but at the prices the prospect of him bagging an uncontested lead in first-time headgear makes him more appealing than most. Some of his three-year-old form certainly makes him look a big price in this, especially his runner-up efforts behind Desert Hero in the Gordon Stakes and Middle Earth in a listed event at Ascot. He was ridden with plenty of dash in both those races and, with blinkers on for the first time, it’s fair to assume he’ll again be asked to go from the front here, especially as none of his rivals are known for making the running.

3.35 1 pt – 11 Ziggy’s Condor 13/2

This is usually one of the strongest three-year-old handicaps of the season, Quinault mixing it with subsequent Group horses Mill Stream and Washington Heights last year and this looks a typically deep renewal. Ziggy’s Condor is the one that appeals most given he’s still lightly raced but also has some strong-looking form. He’s run just four times in his life, three of them at this track and he’s yet to run a bad race, doing particularly well on his reappearance over 7f, racing to the fore of the main group, looking like winning after going to the front two furlongs out (touched 1.01 in running) before edged out on the line by one challenging later. Although he couldn’t be called a non-stayer, the way he shaped there suggests coming back in trip will suit at least as well and the booking of a 5-lb claimer Joe Leavy (won the Dash on Derby Day) is a positive with stable jockey Oisin Orr unable to do the weight.   

Sandown

2.05 1 pt ew – 8 Classic 12/1

Classic failed to beat a rival when returning from nine months off in the C&D handicap won by another of this field Dual Identity just over three weeks ago, but there are strong reasons to believe he’ll put up a much better showing this time. That day, Classic was probably short of peak fitness and on unsuitably testing ground to boot, but underfoot conditions will be much more in his favour here and he can be expected to be appreciably sharper for the run. Classic had plenty of strong handicap form to his credit as a three-year-old, winning here (from a 3 lb lower mark) and showing arguably better form when chasing home Crack Shot over this trip at Newbury on his final outing, the rest nearly three lengths and more behind. He’s just 1 lb higher here and appeals as one of the better-treated runners in an open-looking handicap.

2.40 1 pt – 6 No Half Measures 5/1

It’s certainly not unusual for fillies to be well represented in the Scurry Stakes – it can be a good opportunity to earn some black type – but this year’s race to be solely contested by the fairer sex is certainly a departure from the norm and, as such, it mightn’t take as much winning as can sometimes be the case. Having finished second on debut, No Half Measures has won her three starts since, and although her Goodwood handicap success last time came from a mark of just 82, she did it readily with the timefigure going a long way towards backing up the form, while the third horse Cypriot Diaspora went down by just a head next time from the same mark. That was No Half Measures’ first run at the mininum, and a stiff test at the trip could well bring out further improvement, that the Richard Hughes stable – in form for ages – is still churning out winners clearly another positive.

Chester

3.20 0.5 pt ew – 6 Teraabb 12/1

Teraabb’s tendency to miss the break means he probably won’t make full use of the plum draw, but he’ll surely still be saving ground on the inside, which is never a bad thing at this track, and he does strike as the sort of slightly tricky customer who could be energised by the demands of a big-field race at Chester. His mark certainly still looks fair, just 3 lb higher than when swooping from last to first at Newbury on his comeback in April, and a subsequent mid-field finish at Ascot is best forgiven considering a stiff mile looked to stretch him that day. This looks sure to be a fiercely-run race, which should suit Teraabb’s style ideally, and provided Callum Shepherd can negotiate a trouble-free passage, it’s easy to see him finishing off better than anything else.

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