ITV Racing Tips: Wednesday Picks As York Dante Festival Begins

One of the most hotly anticipated weeks in the flat racing calendar is upon us at one of the great flat tracks, it is of course the Dante Meeting at York! ITV are in town on the Knavesmire and Billy Grimshaw has scoured Wednesday's card to pick out his best bets...

14:42 York

This is a ridiculously competitive affair and I was all set to throw my hands up and skip it truth be told when I saw just how many horses in here looked well weighted and to be suited by the conditions underfoot they'll encounter, but DARK THIRTY at double figure odds has tempted me enough to make a case for a tip. He can be hard to get right but last time out his flop can be completely excused in my book as he missed the start, but I don't think that's being factored into his price.

This is a horse who excels at this time of year and putting a line through his latest run, before that he won well in battling fashion at Doncaster, showing a willing attitude when passed to wrestle the lead back from the eventual second. I was with We Never Stop last time out on the artificial surface and while he of course has his chance here, he has been put up 3lbs for that effort and I don't think he's quite as good on turf. What he is, though, is rapid from the gates, as is Bergerac from the same Kevin Ryan stable who have won this race the last two years.

Clearly they are not to be underestimated, and there are dangers aplenty in here to our chance of having the winner in Dark Thirty, however with Richard Hannon's horse a prominent racer and definite stayer, I love the fact he's drawn low (6) near those two Ryan rockets (3 and 5 respectively) so will have the perfect pace to chase along. Whether he's good enough to win against less exposed and younger rivals remains to be seen but if on a going day I'm fairly confident he can at least land in the money and a host of bookies are paying extra places.

15:13 York

There's not many tracks better than York to watch speedballs strut their stuff in the blazing sunshine and that is exactly what we are expecting to see in the Duke Of Clipper Stakes here, with some of last season's better three year old sprinters making their first appearances at four. Ownership mates who clashed plenty at three Inisherin and ELITE STATUS are both toward the head of the market, but I am a bit surprised to see the gap between them and will be siding with the lesser fancied Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum owned colt.

He was not as consistent as his ownership mate in 2024 but I think he may well have been racing more than he likes and his record on seasonal debut - admittedly he's only had a couple - is a perfect two from two. With a break behind him and, crucially, rattling fast ground to run on which we know he loves, I can see a much improved performance compared to anything we saw from Karl Burke's son of Havana Grey and think he should have the speed to win this race.

Inisherin will be no pushover and really excelled dropping back in trip last year after starting out over a mile and running a decent enough race for fourth in the Guineas, but his two final efforts of the season sparked alarm bells for me somewhat and I wonder if he may be the type of horse who really excels slap bang in the middle of the campaign so needs some time to get going and cool off at the end of a campaign. 

Although I rate Inisherin the main danger to my pick, I am slightly surprised to see Flora Of Bermuda as big as 7/1 in here. The collective wisdom seems to be she wants it soft and it certainly will not be that come racetime, but I think that could be being overplayed and if she brings her A game she will be there or thereabouts. This is a straightforward filly with plenty of gears and Andrew Balding is in red hot form right now so I don't discount her, but it's Elite Status for me in what should be a cracker.