York today

plenty of racing today but easily the best card is at York with some very competitive handicaps and large fields. Elsewhere there are still weather problems, especially in the south and south-west - the ground will be very testing at Chepstow and Sandown- so watch out for non-runners.
The top race at York is the 1 3/4 mile handicap at 16.05 CET which looks very open, but we have a strong fancy for German-bred :Local Hero (Steve Gollings/ Robert Winston). He has been runner-up on both starts this season, over 11/2 miles, but this trip could be even better, as he is an own brother to Liquido. Previous to those two starts he had been running in hurdles races, showing with some good form. Another useful hurdler in the field is The Betchworth Kid (Alan King/ Hayley Turner), but he would prefer even softer ground. Qahriman (Luca Cumani/ Ryan Moore) and Lordofthehouse (William Haggas) are the two favourites here; both are lightly-raced, improving types who also go on the short list.
Even trickier is the 5 furlongs handicap at 17.10 with 20 runners, almost any of which could win. Most of them have raced against each other frequently, most recently in the Epsom Dash 13 days ago, or a similar race the dame day at Musselburgh. Flash City (Bryan Smart/ Royston Ffrench) finished second in that Scottish event, with Racy (Kevin Ryan/ Phillip Makin) and Foxy Music (Eric Alston/ Shane Kelly) close up in fourth and fifth, while Jamesway (Richard Fahey/ Tony Hamilton) did best of those running at Epsom in sixth. We fancied Sohraab (Hughie Morrison/ Ryan Moore) that day and as he has been dropped 3 lbs give him another chance now.
The 7 furlongs race at York at 17.45 is another wide open handicap with 20 runners. Green Howard (Robin Bastiman/ Daniel Tudhope) finished 2011 with two wins and continued with another victory on his only start so far this year. He still seems fairly weighted and can go in again; best outsider here is Azrael (Alan Mccabe/ Richard Mullen).

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Eagle Rock - Crackentorp - Troopingthecolour
2. Race: Classic Colori - Dubai Dynamo - Hillview Boy
3. Race: Priceless Jewel - Top Cop - Tioman Legend
4. Race: Dance And Dance - Tullius - Doncaster Rover
5. Race: Jonny Lesters Hair - Rustic Deacon - Musnad
6. Race: Orions Hero - Marhaba Malayeen - Royal Rascal
7. Race: Rasaman - Green Park - Klynch