York selections Thursday 20th August
Onto Day 2 at York and in truth, this looks very much the weakest card of the week for punting purposes. The big stand out though is the mile handicap featuring several old favourites and quite a few unexposed types. I have two selections for this one. We got off to a perfect start to the week with a 1-2 in the opening sprint, Air Force One (advised 8/1) leading home Corolla Point (advised 11/2) for the each-way bets. The other selection Small Fry then won the staying handicap (advised 5/2).
York 3.00: Cerulean Bay & Blue Brother
Two improving 5yo’s are fancied for this wide open handicap. It is no surprise to see Centigrade put up at a short price given his high class form in novice contests. However this is his first handicap and he will find things happening much quicker today. As such I think he is worth opposing.
Main choice is definitely BLUE BROTHER. This keen sort was made too much use of in the Golden Mile at Goodwood last time, but ridden with a little more patience today can pay dividends. After exactly a year off the track, he made a tremendous reappearance when fourth in the Buckingham Palace at the Royal meeting over 7f. However this sharp mile looks an ideal trip for him.
Formerly trained in France, he has plenty of form on soft ground, including a win in a handicap on Arc weekend at Longchamp in 2024. That bodes well for his claims here given the track is sure to be racing on the slow side by race time.
CERULEAN BAY is more exposed but continues to threaten and defy the handicapper and win a big handicap. You can forget his run under an unfamiliar rider in the Shergar Cup, where the smaller field and slower gallop were also against him. Prior to that though he had finished a superb second in the Golden Mile at Goodwood off the same mark of 105 as today.
Whilst he has yet to win a race at York, he has run some cracking races here, notably when second to Bullet Point in this race on last year’s card, and again when second over this trip at the Dante meeting. He is also fully proven on a soft surface – his form on softer than good reading 482113, so conditions won’t be an issue.
Recommended bets:
1pt each-way – Blue Brother – 3.0 York – 17/2 Bet365, Unibet, BetVictor (1/5 odds 1st 5)
1pt each-way – Cerulean Bay – 3.0 York – 18/1 William Hill (1/5 odds 1st 5)
