York Ebor meeting: second day

it´s Ladies Day at York today, with 4 of the 6 races restricted to fillies and mares, including the main feature, the Group One Yorkshire Oaks over 1 1/2 miles at 16.40 CET. The last 2 winners of the Oaks at Epsom meet here, but while Talent (Ralph Beckett/ Andrea Atzeni) has not sparkled since her classic victory, Taghrooda (John Gosden/ Paul Hanagan) still remains unbeaten after another top grade success at Ascot. She is favourite for the Arc and in theory cannot lose here, as she has about a stone in hand on official ratings. Tapestry (Aidan O´Brien/ Ryan Moore) and Volume (Luca Cumani/ Richard Hughes) finished 2-3 in the Irish Oaks, but that was a weaker race than the Epsom version, altho´ they could again take the minor places. Joseph definitely cannot do today´s weight, so that fact that he partners his father´s Venus De MIlo should not indicate that she is more highly regarded than Tapestry, and that one looks the filly for the forecast.

The Group Two Lowther Stakes for 2yo fillies over 6 furlongs at 15.340 is the next best race on the card and looks to be between 3 fillies who all ran well at Royal Ascot: the unbeaten Cursory Glance (Roger Varian/ Andrea Atzeni), who won the Albany, and Anthem Alexander (Eddie Lynam/ Pat Smullen) and Tiggy Wiggy (Richard Hannon/ Hughes), first and second in the Queen Mary. The latter is now 3 lbs better off and could reverse the form and has since shown tremendous speed to win the Newbury Super Sprint. However she is so fast over 5 furlongs that there must be a slight doubt about her getting this trip, and this is probably not a race to bet on.

The listed race over 1 1/2 miles at 17.20 is for fillies who are presumably not regarded as good enough to run in the Yorkshire Oaks. The consistent Waila (Sir Michael Stoute/ Moore) could take this, although we are worried by Starlet (Dermot Weld/ Smullen), who is moving up sharply in grade but represents a very smart team.
The sales race for 2yo´s which opens the card at 14.55 is actually almost as valuable as the Group One Event and Kool Kompany (Hannon/ Hughes) has clearly the best credentials here, having won a Group Two and finished runner-up in a Group One. Fast Act (Kevin Ryan/ Neil Callan) is the obvious danger.

From the German point of view, Energizer (Charlie Appleby/ Hughes) is one of the most interesting runners of the day. He was a Royal Ascot winner when still running for Schlenderhan in 2012 and was afterwards sold to Godolphin. He missed all of 2013, but is now on a very favourable handicap mark and must have a solid each-way chance in the mile handicap at 16.05.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Kool Kompany - Fast Act - Mukhmal
2. Race: Tiggy Wiggy - Anthem Alexander - Cursory Glance
3. Race: Russian Realm - Short Squeeze - Red Avenger
4. Race: Tapestry - Volume - Venus De Milo
5. Race: Waila - Arabian Comet - Momentus
6. Race: Bragging - Sparkle Factor - Wedding Ring