Author: Paul Davidson

A cracking handicap to round off Champions Day with last season’s victor Brone Angel looking to reclaim his crown. This is an extremely competitive mile race with some seasoned handicappers and his revised mark looks a little stiff to capture this again. Buckstay did superbly to collar Gabriel’s lad last…

Frankie Dettori rides another Anthony Oppenheimer horse one week on from his triump in the Arc. Ooty Hill was fancied for great things this season and having finished second to pattern filly Star of Seville at Newbury in April, he came back off a five month break to finish behind Eagle Top…

Jack Naylor has been contesting the toughest fillies races this season, and has an opportunity to get off the mark for the first time as a three-year-old dropping back in trip. Jessica Harrington’s filly never got on terms in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks last time, and her best run of…

In the penultimate month of the official flat racing campaign, the Ayr Gold Cup, as per usual presents itself as one of the trickiest handicaps of the season. History tells us that three-year-olds generally don’t fair well having last won at that age in 2002, and that carrying more than…

A highly competitive renewal in a race in which three year olds have generally struggled to make an impression over recent years. Suzi’s Connoisseur finished a close second last week to Majestic Moon and has been threatening to win a big field handicap such as this. He has risen 3lbs…

Freddie Head is a strong handler of fillies and he saddles Pearly Steph in what looks like a wide open Grp 3 race. She has been racing well in Grp 3 / Listed contests in France this season and is completely unexposed over 7f having won over 8f in listed company.…

In a weekend where emerging three year old sprinters have trounced older opposition, we may be about to see another episode in the pick of Sunday’s card at York. Sole Power’s trainer, Ed Lynam, travels over to Great Britain with Fort Del Oro making her fourth start for the sprinting…

The Balmoral Handicap will be the final instalment on Qipco Champions Day in the middle of October and today on what will arguably be similar conditions, we get a chance to assess some of the potential challengers in this “concisely” named precursor. Windfast enters the race under top weight with…

Focusing on historical trends for the Ebor could be a misnomer this year with only one winner having won carrying 9-4 or more and winners have generally been rated 88-104 over the last decade. The reality is that 14 runners carry more than 9-4 and perhaps the relative ratings rather…