-
Mark Milligan previews day one of York's Ebor meeting
-
He's selecting an each-way double to kick things off
-
Free bet for customers betting £5 on multis during York
Okay, I may be a bit biased as it's my local track and the place where I really cut my teeth in the racing game, but for me there really is no finer summer festival than the York Ebor meeting.
Four spectacular days' racing under blazing sunshine* (*possible artistic licence in use), featuring top-class Group contests and ultra-competitive handicaps, all at a course that provides a really fair test for all.
That said, it's a bit of a disappointment that Wednesday's Group races have attracted such small fields, including the feature event, the Juddmonte International (15:35), but even that should be a race to savour.
The clash between the best three-year-old in Europe, Paddington, and the five-year-old Mostahdaf, who was so impressive at Royal Ascot last time is certainly one to get the pulse racing.
I'll obviously be keeping a keen eye on that and the other pattern races, but as ever at these big festivals, my task this week is try and eke out the each-way value in the extra place handicaps, and we have plenty to go at on day one.
York - 13:50 - Back Intrinsic Bond each-way, five places @ 15/28.50
As is traditional at the Ebor meeting, we open with a trappy sprint handicap (13:50), but we do at least have the bonus of five places available on the Sportsbook, which should give us a sporting chance of starting the meeting in profit.
The draw can be a bit of a movable feast on the straight course at York, but as a rule, I'd rather be low to middle than very high, though it probably doesn't pay to get too bogged down in the minutiae of it all.
Intrinsic Bond is a straightforward type and his draw in stall five could prove advantageous if he's towards the front end as expected.
He hasn't been with the Michael Wigham yard too long but already looks an improved model for the stable switch, striking at Ascot on his yard debut in July.
The selection then went back to Ascot last time and ran really well again, only giving best to an upwardly mobile three-year-old in Rogue Lightning, who has been a revelation since being fitted with a hood.
Time may well prove that Intrinsic Bond had plenty on his plate in trying to give weight to one who could well end the season in pattern company, and the handicapper could well have taken a chance in leaving the selection's mark unchanged for that effort.
York - 16:45 - Back Kimngrace each-way, four places @ 10/111.00
With 'only' 14 runners going to post, I'm hopeful the draw won't have too much of an impact when it comes to Wednesday's second selection in the 5f fillies' handicap at 16:45.
There are two in here that are taking up plenty of market for contrasting reasons, the progressive Pinafore from the William Haggas yard, and last year's winner of this race, Designer.
The former ran out an impressive winner of a handicap at Nottingham last time, but this is deeper and her price makes little appeal considering she'll probably need to improve again.
The latter clearly goes well here and her run at Goodwood last time was most notable, as she met plenty of trouble in running and can be upgraded significantly.
The issue is neither have been missed in the market and the value could well lie with Kimngrace, who boasts an eye-catching jockey booking with Betfair ambassador Ryan Moore taking back over in the saddle.
She looked set for a good season when winning a listed race on the all-weather at Lingfield in February, but she didn't really go on after that, though the bonus is obviously that her mark has been dropping as a result.
The selection is a previous C&D winner, something that could well stand her in good stead, and she's now on a mark just 4lb higher than when last winning a handicap.
With four places available on the Sportsbook, Kimngrace makes plenty of appeal to run a big race.
Back the each-way double @ around 90/191.00
Betfair have a cracking offer on Sportsbook multiples at York this week, offering a free bet of up £5 when betting up to £5 (opt in required), and with that in mind I'm going to recommend a small multiple in these pages for each day of the meeting.
Given that the Group races are quite uncompetitive in numbers terms, I'm going to keep it simple for the first day and suggest we just combine the two main selections in this column as an each-way double.
With a couple of juicy prices to go at, the win part of the double is paying around 90/191.00, and that is obviously very enticing, but we'll still make a tidy profit even if both selections make the places.
As ever, good luck, and I'll be back with Thursday's preview on Wednesday afternoon.
Racing...Only Bettor. Watch the York Ebor Day 1 Preview here.