Snow Fairy to weave magic in Yorkshire Oaks
The advent of ladies days has been enthusiastically embraced by the marketing departments of most racecourses but York’s has more resonance than most.
The Group One Darley Yorkshire Oaks brings together a rich collection of distaff talent which includes the winners of the last two renewals of the Oaks. The best of the senior division is represented by Sariska and Midday who have met three times so far.
Sariska has won each taking the Oaks and the Irish Oaks last season and then winning the Group Two Middleton Stakes at York in May, but her one-and-a-quarter-length winning margin then is negated by the 5lbs that Midday had to concede that day. The ground conditions, which are faster than had been expected, may also pose a problem for Sariska, who goes better with some cut in the ground.
This season’s three-year-olds have not often come out best in the clashes of the generations but Snow Fairy may be one to buck that trend. She was barely on the radar in the spring but has made rapid improvement. She only beat Meeznah by a neck in the Oaks at Epsom in June, having had to overcome a rough race to get through at all, and underlined her progress when the two fillies met again in the Irish equivalent the following month.
The slower ground at the Curragh had been considered a worry for Snow Fairy but she had Meeznah a further nine lengths back this time and could still be improving, which makes the 10lb weight-for-age allowance she receives in this race look very tempting.
The next generation of Classic fillies meet in the Group Two Jaguar Cars Lowther Stakes. The unbeaten Maqaasid has yet to run beyond five furlongs but her pedigree suggests that the extra furlong of the Lowther should not pose a problem while Margot Did has not quite seen out the trip – admittedly on a stiffer track – in two attempts in Group company at Ascot this season.
The DBS Premier Yearling Stakes is another of these sales races which brings an interesting mix of juveniles, some of whom may end up in the major Group races this autumn. Galtymore Lad has already had a couple of attempts at Group-race level but may be better than the results suggest. He was only seventh in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot but was the first home of those drawn high and then ran a good second in a Listed race on the same course last month.
The only surprise about Mark Johnston at this year’s Ebor meeting is that he goes into the third day without a winner, but that may change with Capponi in the Addleshaw Goddard Handicap.
The winner of three of his first four starts, all over a mile, Capponi did not really see out the 10 furlongs at Goodwood last time out but this return to eight furlongs looks a good move.
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