17:20 York

Saturday 25 August 2018

All13:5014:2515:0015:4016:1516:5017:20

Sky Bet Apprentice Handicap

Off time: 17:22 | Winning time: 58.04s

(3)

Savalas⁴⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: Finley Marsh⁽³⁾| T: K A Ryan| OR: 103| D

7/2

Consistent (4-11; albeit 0-5 at York) with each of those successes coming over the minimum trip (mainly on good to soft); also effective on quicker ground as best demonstrated when beaten a neck by Encrypted (6f) here in June.

Form: 7-11125

(10)

Marnie James^t²³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-4| J: Callum Rodriguez| T: I Jardine| OR: 100| CD

10/1

Beaten a neck in a ding-dong battle with Lord Riddiford in a 5f Class 3 handicap at Glorious Goodwood latest; up 5lb (1lb better off with the winner), but has a previous C&D win on his CV.

Form: 031162

(2)

Main Desire²²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: Sara Del Fabbro⁽⁷⁾| T: M L W Bell| OR: 99| CD

4/1

Won both previous starts on the Knavesmire (C&D), and takes a significant drop in class after competing in the Commonwealth Cup (Gr 1) and the King George Qatar Stakes (Gr 2) most latterly; slightly risky nevertheless.

Form: 11-109

(4)

Lord Riddiford²³

Age: 3| Weight: 8-12| J: Jason Watson| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 94| D

4/1

Notched a hat-trick in a scrap with Marnie James at Glorious Goodwood latest; up 6lb (1lb worse off with that rival), but no reason why this track shouldn't suit his run style and likely to be on the premises throughout.

Form: 14-0111

(11)

Roundhay Park¹⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 8-12| J: Lewis Edmunds| T: N Tinkler| OR: 94| D

7/2

Handles most conditions, but possibly stronger with some give (good/good to soft); sports a 33% strike-rate (4-12) and was beaten just a neck by Green Power over 6f at Ascot recently; up 2lb.

Form: 144132

(5)

Fool For You¹⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-1| J: Rhiain Ingram⁽³⁾| T: R A Fahey| OR: 83| D

16/1

Stablemate of Bengali Boys; 4lb higher than when winning a small field Class 4 handicap at Ayr in July (5f, good), so on balance probably isn't quite strong enough to play a leading role in this Class 2 contest.

Form: 272712

(1)

Eeh Bah Gum²⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-1| J: Jamie Gormley| T: T D Easterby| OR: 83| BF| D

7/1

Thrived during the early months of the season winning four on the bounce in the space of a calendar month (all over 5f on quick ground); risen a combined total of 27lb in the weights (7lb above his last winning mark) and that's too much.

Form: 111125

(7)

Hawaam⁹⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 8-0| J: Paula Muir⁽³⁾| T: R Fell & S Murray| OR: 78| BF

25/1

Maiden in Ireland after seven starts (mainly 5f-6f at Naas and Navan); left Kevin Prendergast for 27,000gns last month, and it's a guessing game as to how he'll adapt to these shores on debut for Roger Fell; best watched.

Form: 44-3235

(6)

Angel Force^p³²

Age: 3| Weight: 8-0| J: Sophie Ralston⁽⁵⁾| T: D C Griffiths| OR: 67| CD

40/1

C&D winner in July 2017, but 1-19 overall; in steady decline since some reasonable early season efforts and looks to be purely making up the numbers from well out of the weights.

Form: 525566

Non-Runners

(8)

Bengali Boys¹¹

Weight: 9-1| Age: 3

T: R A Fahey J: Oakley Brown

(9)

Airglow⁷

Weight: 8-0| Age: 3

T: M & D Easterby J: Andrew Breslin

Forecasts

Roundhay Park (7/2), Savalas (7/2), Main Desire (4/1), Lord Riddiford (4/1), Eeh Bah Gum (7/1), Marnie James (10/1), Airglow (12/1), Bengali Boys (12/1), Fool For You (16/1), Hawaam (25/1), Angel Force (40/1)

Fine margins separated Lord Riddiford and Marnie James at Glorious Goodwood recently, and there's no reason as to why a similar scenario won't unfold here with a 1lb turnaround at the weights. Main Desire is unbeaten in two starts on the Knavesmire and bids to get her once promising career back on track at a reduced level, whilst Savalas is also respected. However, the finale can go to ROUNDHAY PARK who is 2lb higher than when runner up at Ascot (6f) a fortnight ago, but is a four-time 5f winner.