Duke of York Stakes

The other big race at York today is the Group Two Duke of York Stakes over 6 furlongs at 16.10, which has attrracted a very strong field. Once again an Irish win seems likely, with Aidan O´Brien represented by the ex-Franch US Ranger (Johnny Murtagh) and Kevin Prendergast by Haatef (Declan McDonogh), both of whom could take the top honours over this distance this year. US Ranger has been slightly disappointing, but clearly has Group One potential, and will start favourite today. Assertive (Richard Hannon/ Ryan Moore) could be the best of the Brits, having only gone down by a whisker at Newmarket last time, while Soldier´s Tale (Jeremy Noseda/ Frankie Dettori) is the question mark of the race. He could win this on the form he showed when winning last year´s Golden Jubnilee but has not run since and also carries a Group One penalty - as does ex-South African War Artist (James Eustace/ Kerrin McEvoy) - which does not make things any easier.