Day two of the York Dante Festival is here, so here’s a quick review of day one.
Chillingham returned EW money yesterday, and he did well to do that in fairness as he found himself out the back of a slowly run race, so his performance deserves plenty of credit.
The less said about Wahraan the better as he dramatically missed the brake again and Mortlake failed to land a blow, though he still ran well. He’ll come on for that.
So, let’s dive into day two on what is a tough betting card.
2:15 York – Alligator Alley @ 9/1 with William Hill (6 places) – 1pt EW
Starting in the opening handicap of the day, Alligator Alley is down to a mark that makes him dangerous at a track he has acted on before.
The seven-year-old is very race-fit thanks to a winter all-weather campaign, one that failed to produce any victories despite some solid runs.
Because of this, he’s on a mark of 89, two pounds below his last winning mark which occurred in the Racing League when he was a facile winner at Newcastle.
🇮🇪 Two on the night for Team Ireland! Alligator Alley lands the @RacingLeagueUK feature for @DylanBrowneMcM and @omeararacing at @NewcastleRaces… pic.twitter.com/NzDbY65YF8
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) August 31, 2023
Furthermore, when he finished second to Equilateral in a York heritage handicap in August 2023, he had a rating of 92, so he’s well-in on that run.
His rating of 89 is a career-low, so hopefully he makes use of that.
2:45 York – Symbol Of Light @ 25/1 with Paddy Power (6 places) – 1pt EW
I’m taking a chance in the second race that Symbol Of Light takes to the turf as well as he’s taken to the all-weather.
The five-year-old sported the silks of Godolphin in his early years, though after an extended break from the track, he joined Julie Camacho under the ownership of Martin Hughes.
With one turf run so far for Camacho, that occurred after a break on soft Doncaster ground, so a slightly better York surface should suit him better.
Hat-trick completed! Symbol Of Light gets the job done on handicap debut for Adam Kirby, Charlie Appleby and @godolphin at @Southwell_Races… pic.twitter.com/P8vb1C7SI3
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 27, 2022
So far for Camacho, he has faced trouble in two of his last four runs, one of which occurred at Kempton in November when behind Choisya (Listed runner-up on her next start) and the other happened at Newcastle when behind Dear My Friend (now rated 16lbs higher).
Therefore, a more open York track should give him a better chance of coming off the pace and connections have given the son of Shamardal a wind-op in the run-up to this race. He also sports a set of first-time cheekpieces.
With a turf rating that is five pounds below his all-weather mark, he has a chance to prove himself on Thursday and I hope he can as he deserves to land a good pot.
