The Flat campaign really is in full swing now, and the three-day York Dante Festival is one of the early-season highlights.
Action on the Knavesmire is set to be excellent this week, and there should be a few nice betting angles to look into before Saturday’s Lockinge Stakes Day at Newbury.
Fresh from a profitable week, one that included winners at 13/2, 4/1, 7/4, 6/4, and 11/8, hopefully this momentum can continue.
York Dante Festival 2025 Day 1
2:10 York – Marhaba The Champ @ 13/2 with William Hill – 1pt EW
There’s been plenty of early money for Marhaba The Champ in the opening race of the York Dante Festival, and I can see why.
He won at this meeting two years ago over 1m2f with an official rating of 90, and he finished a good fourth in a Class 2 handicap at Ayr off 92 in September 2024.
So, with a mark of 86 now, he looks well-weighted, and connections have decided to get a run into him ahead of this year’s renewal of the race.
He won on his seasonal reappearance two years ago, but he was disappointing in this race last year when they tried to do the same. Getting race fitness into any horse has to be a positive, and the six-year-old by Galileo has two wins from four outings around York.
Although his last run at Pontefract was his seasonal reappearance, he actually showed some promise in seventh, and stepping back up in trip should benefit him.
A few of his opponents who are shorter in the market have question marks on the ground, but Marhaba The Champ doesn’t, and I’m hoping this has been a bit of a plan from Kevin Ryan. The first-time cheekpieces are on as well.
2:42 York – Prince Of Pillo @ 14/1 with William Hill – 0.5pt EW
I think it’s interesting that Oisin Orr has chosen Prince Of Pillo over Ramazan for Richard Fahey in race two, a 0-105 six-furlong handicap.
Ramazan is shorter in the market (I know, trainers don’t tend to worry what the markets look like) and he has dropped to a mark of 97, which is 10lbs below his peak rating (June 2024). He looks to have a nice chance at the weights.
However, I hope this means that connections fancy Prince Of Pillo more, and to be honest, I can see why.
The five-year-old has had a fairly quiet career with just 16 runs, but he’s won five of them, two of which since February.
As a juvenile, way back in the murky depths of 2022, he bolted up in a Listed race at Ayr before chasing home Rumstar in the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes. Rumstar has improved since, so that form looks okay.
Since then, Prince Of Pillo has had a total of 779 days away from the track across three different spells, and he also changed trainer from Keith Dalgleish to Richard Fahey in July 2023.
So, he hasn’t had the most straightforward career. But still, he is clearly a classy animal based on his early work, and he’s looked impressive twice so far this year.
He made a mockery of a Class 4 handicap at Lingfield at the start of February, and he returned to the winners’ enclosure at Southwell last month to win by a neck, though he was value for more than the winning margin suggests.
He also finished fifth in a Class 2 handicap at Newcastle in March where Orr tried to make headway down the outside of the pack over five furlongs. This was never going to work to his advantage with the track bias at Newcastle, but he was an eye-catching loser that day.
The Prince Of Lir gelding still has a lenient mark of 90, and stall one is a positive in these sprint handicaps at York.
This is a slightly left-field shout, but I think Prince Of Pillo has the ability to win this.
3:13 York – Elite Status @ 10/3 with William Hill – 1pt Win
The Group 2 1895 City Of York Stakes is a funny race because you can question each and every runner for different reasons.
However, the percentage call looks to be Elite Status to me, and he’s not a bad price.
The four-year-old by Havana Grey bolted up on his seasonal reappearance last season, putting away the likes of Relief Rally and Aaday In Devon with relative ease in the Listed Carnarvon Stakes.
He had every right to do that despite his starting price of 13/2, though he did go on to frank the form in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at much shorter odds.
He beat Kind Of Blue, a future Group 1 winner, and Regional, third to Believing in the Al Quoz Sprint subsequently, that day, and even the second, Lake Forest, went on to land the prestigious Golden Eagle in Australia.
Elite Status is clearly a horse that goes well fresh, and while his owner-mate Inisherin might be classier, I wonder whether he might need it on his first start for 249 days.
For these reasons, he’s a bet at 10/3.
