York Ebor Festival Antepost Tips: Three To Consider A Week From The Festival

Just a week now remains until the York Ebor Meeting kicks off and with running plans now becoming more concrete, it is the perfect time to snaffle some last minute antepost value. Billy Grimshaw is itching to get started on the Knavesmire and has. a trio of selections he thinks will go off shorter than their prices right now for you to consider...

Thursday 13:50 York - Lowther Stakes

Relief Rally has been one of the stars of the two year old season so far for William Haggas and found things all so easy in the Super Sprint at Newbury last time out. Winning that race as favourite is no mean feat but her dominance was evident for all to see and after finishing an agonising second to a speedball American at Royal Ascot this was welcome redemption. The Queen Mary at Royal Ascot saw a clear draw bias and the horse most unfortunate in that contest is set to reoppose Relief Rally here in Flora Of Bermuda, who won her group with relative ease yet had to settle for sixth place. She is clearly better than the bare result that day and connections will be confident they have the filly to turn the tables. This Queen Mary duo are favourite and third favourite at the time of writing but it is the second favourite at 11/4 I am very keen on.

CHERRY BLOSSOM did not look anything special when plodding home in fourth on debut when a 7/4 favourite under Ryan Moore, but watching that five furlong race back it was clear she was purely on an educational day out. The learning experience clearly worked as next time out over six at the Curragh she was phenomenally impressive in sauntering to a five length win under the same rider. She looked much more switched on here and when Moore asked her for an effort she was away and gone. The field may not be stacked with stars but sometimes you get the impression watching a horse than the penny has dropped and that certainly looks the case with this brilliant No Nay Never filly. She has been supplemented here which shows O'Brien's confidence in his charge and I'd expect her to go off as joint favourite with Relief Rally before claiming this coveted Group Two prize.

Thursday 15:00 - Clipper Handicap

As is always the case, the Clipper Handicap of 2023 looks fiendishly competitive and it will take a very decent animal to win this contest. To go back to back will be an unbelievable feat, but I am confident BLUE FOR YOU has all the necessary talent and toughness to oblige. David O'Meara has a brilliant record in this race but it is not just the statistics that give me hope in Blue For You winning consecutive Clippers, I actually think he was value for a whole lot more than last season's winning margin. Watching the race back when studying for this piece it was clear to see that regular pilot Danny Tudhope thought he had cost his mount the race by waiting too long to play his hand. His horse was travelling beautifully throughout and never looked to be struggling to keep up, but he was arguably travelling so sweetly Tudhope switched off for a fraction of a second because before he knew it all the potential gaps had been closed by rivals making their moves.

In the end the horse had enough speed and grit to barge through some tiring horses as the finish line approached and just about managed to reel in Escobar, who had a clear passage down the outside and was flying home himself. Tudhope obviously is a top class rider and would be a positive booking again this time around, but if Blue For You can be positioned slightly better this year he can navigate the higher weight with ease. He has shown himself to be a real York specialist and to my eye hasn't run a bad race on the Knavesmire so I'd imagine he will shorten up a fair bit as raceday approaches on Thursday. An each-way play looks the smart angle although I will be disappointed if we are only playing for places with this classy Knavesmire lover.

Friday 15:35 - Nunthorpe Stakes

Highfield Princess warrants all the respect in the world after proving herself to be in fine fettle once again in 2023 after a breakout 2022. The culmination of her 2022 stunner of a season was of course winning this race and she deserves her place at the head of the market this time around once more after a trio of good placed efforts so far this season saw her bag her just rewards with the Group 1 King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. She is the most likely winner, but her price reflects that and with the market sure to be strongly with her until race time I must look elsewhere.

Big Evs will be a fascinating contender here if opting to take on the older sprinters, receiving bundles of weight. It is no mean feat to win the Nunthorpe as a juvenile however, as was proven last year by the ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful The Platinum Queen. He looks a top class two-year-old so far but this is another test entirely and another negative is his lack of Knavesmire experience. One horse that certainly cannot be accused of inexperience on the Knavesmire is REGIONAL, Ed Bethel's sprinter who has taken his form to a whole new level in 2023. I'm a big believer in getting on sprinters when they begin their upward curves and think Regional is on his right now after a solid but not spectacular 2020. His York win on seasonal debut showed he was a horse reborn and destined for better than handicaps and he reaffirmed this by beating Equilateral, a solid yardstick, in the Listed Achilles last time out at Haydock. Now stepping up into the highest company possible it is a big ask, but I think at each-way prices he is worth backing.