York Dante Festival day one
Published:
Brando the don on Wednesday
Day one of the Dante Festival at York gets underway on Wednesday, with the first of an exciting seven-race card at 2.20pm. You can back all the opening day winners, and have your say throughout the week, here at Coral, the home of horse racing value.
Betting on the go – we provide a selection in every race at the foot of this page, designed to aid your midweek multiples. Pick your best of them, and keep an eye on the results throughout the card. Focussing on the cream of the afternoon, we look at our NAP and next best below.
Progressive fav to strike again
The Duke Of York Stakes serves as the main attraction of the day, a competitive group two affair run over six furlongs. Of the 13 expected to post, Brando looks the winner for us. Kevin Ryan’s five-year-old did nothing but impress last season, including an eye-catching win in the Ayr Gold Cup back in September, off a sizeable SP.
The selection carried that on to 2017, getting off to a flying start last month when doing the business at Newmarket in the Abernant Stakes, a group three over today’s trip. Going off as an even money jolly on that occasion, he lived up to the pre-race hype, despite encountering a bit of early traffic. Went past runner-up Ornate at the end, and was seen running away from them when it mattered.
Brando appears to have been given a real opportunity to continue his winning ways, and if following on from the effort we saw from him last time, then he’ll surely take all the beating. Coral traders are handing out 11/4 at the time of writing, and that’s sure to hold plenty of weight with punters.
Shutter Speed won’t disappoint
We waste no time hanging around and will be hoping to be onto a double when going straight back in on the next race for our chief support. A one mile two-furlongs fillies group three puzzle, the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes is scheduled for 4.05pm.
Our horse racing team can’t see past Shutter Speed, currently going around the betting ring as 2/5 favourite, and that’s perfectly understandable. One to play a part in multiples, or for the big hitters out there, perhaps, John Gosden and Frankie Dettori team up on the standout of a five-runner field.
This outing is thought to be nothing more than a chance for the pick to stretch her legs, and give racegoers a glimpse of a three-year-old with a big future ahead of her. Winning each of her two starts to date, she was last seen scoring at Newbury in April. Anything other than a straightforward win would be a massive shock here, and we fancy her to put another tick in the box, before moving on to bigger and better things. Short price, but deserves to be.
York selections
2.20 – Repercussion
2.55 – Wentworth Falls
3.30 – Brando
4.05 – Shutter Speed
4.35 – Harbour Grey
5.05 – Knockout Blow
5.35 – Theydon Grey
