Matt Brocklebank picks out a handful of horses he thinks could be worth keeping on side in the coming weeks following the Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York.
Click on the horses' names for full profile and to add to My Stable track...
ZABRISKIE POINT (Charlie Hills) - 4th in 6f nursery, Wednesday
Blue Point colt Zabriskie Point remains one to be positive about. He had caught the eye with his finishing kick on his return from a 72-day break when third in a Salisbury novice earlier in the month, and ran well for fourth here off an opening handicap mark of 94. There is stamina on the dam’s side of his pedigree and he does look ready for more of a test but could get away with six furlongs off this sort of mark on a stiffer track before long.
TERWADA (Ed Walker) – 7th in 1m Clipper Handicap, Thursday
The high draw wasn’t an excuse for defeat by any means, but Terwada found himself wide without any cover early on and was consequently lit up and keen in the hands of Tom Marquand. He eventually consented to settle but was closer to the back than the front in a race ultimately fought out by the three horses who were first, second and third turning for home. Terwada tried to challenge away from the bulk of the action and ran very well in the circumstances, especially considering it was much quicker ground than when successful at Newmarket on his previous start at the end of July. He's still on a fair mark.
SISYPHEAN (Kevin Ryan) – 5th in 7f Convivial Maiden, Friday
A fine Ebor week for Kevin Ryan, who claimed winners through Forza Orta and Marhaba The Champ, but few of his runners knocked your eye out in the preliminaries quite like Sisyphean. He ended up finishing a place behind owner/stablemate Volterra but shaped like the debut run would bring him on a ton. Neil Callan was fighting a bit of a losing battle after the gorgeous son of Dubawi went to his right on leaving the stalls as he was already drawn high, out towards the middle of the course, and although he made a nice move to gain ground two furlongs out, couldn’t ever get close enough to be competitive. A more typical race of this nature will be his for the taking with the initial experience now behind him.
CATCH THE PADDY (Kevin Ryan) – 2nd in 1m 3yo handicap, Friday
Another Ryan runner who should be followed closely in the coming weeks. Catch The Paddy had undergone a breathing operation since his most recent outing at Haydock in July and, from a 2lb lower mark, very nearly delivered the goods. He bumped into a much-improved and clearly well-handicapped rival in Silver Sword but won’t be going back up much in the weights for this and looks to have plenty of options now he’s shown he stays the mile. He could also tackle older horses soon with the handy weight-for-age allowance.
POST IMPRESSIONIST (William Haggas) – 9th in 1m6f Sky Bet Ebor, Saturday
I’ve been waiting for this one to show a bit more since putting him up antepost for the Northumberland Plate as I didn’t really like what I saw from him on the day at Newcastle, nor at Goodwood or Ascot on his next two starts for that matter. However, this was a lot more like the horse who ended last season with a commanding success on the Knavesmire and it’s now hoped he can kick on into the autumn months. He was beaten almost four lengths in the end in Saturday's Sky Bet Ebor, but was also 4lb out of the handicap and he could be interesting in something like the November Handicap if it came up really testing again at Doncaster.
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