York Ebor Festival Round Up: The Mediterranean and Stradivarius shorten

Eye-catching display in second

Charlie Appleby's Yibir came out on top to land the Great Voltigeur on day one of the York Ebor Festival, but it was the horse in second which caught the attention of many - including the market.

Aiden O'Brien's The Mediterranean led until around two furlongs out, but despite being no match for the eventual winner, kept on well in the final 110 yards to finish second at 17.016/1.

One of the main outsiders of the race, Wayne Lordan's front running tactics showed how gutsy O'Brien's three-year-old is - and the possibility that there's plenty more still to come.

The market reacted to that fine performance, cutting The Mediterranean's price to win the St Leger in three weeks from 34.033/1 to 11.010/1.

Hurricane Lane remains the odds-on favourite, but there's every chance O'Brien's horse can fight for a place, hence the huge cut on his odds.

Stradivarius holds off Spanish Mission

In one of the best finishes of the Festival, Stradivarius and Spanish Mission both put in cracking performances both worthy of winning, but it was the former who was able to make history, winning the Lonsdale Cup for the third time in a row.

Spanish Mission went as short as 1.071/14 in running, but Stradivarius proved many of his doubters wrong by pegging back Andrew Balding's five-year-old on the line.

As a result of yet another win for John Gosden's superstar, he's been trimmed from 6.05/1 to 4.57/2 to win the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup.

According to the market, however, Alan King's Trueshan remains the favourite at 3.02/1, after impressing at Glorious Goodwood when Hollie Doyle was on board.

Zain Claudette completes hat-trick

Ismail Mohammed's Zain Claudette won the Lowther Stakes, beating the favourite Sandrine by a length. That was Zain Claudette's third win in just four runs to date, with plenty of punters taking note after yet another fine display.

After the two-year-old's victory, Mohammed's horse has been drastically cut from 17.016/1 to 5.04/1 to win the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket, and is now the clear favourite.

Sandrine is currently priced at 5.59/2 to reverse that form with Zain Claudette, having been the outright favourite prior to the defeat at York. The market expects these two to tussle it out once again, with the rest of the field priced at 9.08/1 bar.

Snowfall shines as expected

It was hardly a surprise to anyone to see Snowfall land the Darley Yorkshire Oaks at short odds, easing down in the final strides to win by four lengths.

What was a worthy performance in behind was Aidan O'Brien's La Joconde, finishing third at 151.0150/1 - keep an eye on where he runs next.

As a result, there was some slight movement in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe market, with Snowfall shortening from 4.03/1 to 3.259/4

Charlie Appleby's Adayer is Snowfall's closest rival in the market at 4.57/2, followed by Dermot Weld's Tarnawa at 6.05/1 after an impressive victory at Leopardstown, the five-year-old's fifth victory in a row.