It’s day two of York’s Dante meeting on Thursday with seven races to look forward to including the Dante itself. It’s a race that is always seen as a key pointer to the Classic at Epsom in just over two weeks time and it’s produced 11 previous winners of the Derby.
Colm Doyle provides his analysis of the big race and picks out some other selections from the support card.
2.15 York - Lindum York Handicap
The opener on the card looks competitive but it might be worth taking a chance on Marine Wave who looked promising as a three-year-old last term.
Richard Fahey’s filly was an unlucky loser here at the Ebor meeting back in August and similar can be said when narrowly denied at Ayr a month later.
Expect her to kick on this season with a mark in the 90s looking very workable and she can be forgiven her reappearance run when drawn on the wrong side.
Another four-year-old, Spartan Arrow, could be the main danger if he’s allowed to dominate again.
3.15 York - Middleton Fillies’ Stakes
This was a race won by Free Wind last season and she has rock solid claims of landing back-to-back renewals here.
John Gosden’s mare seems to relish York and she was impressive last year when pulling clear with an unexposed sort. She went on to be beaten just a head by Warm Heart in the Yorkshire Oaks.
It’s a track that allows her to use her long stride and expect her to be hard to pass again now back on the Knavesmire.
3.45 York - Dante Stakes
It looks like a fascinating renewal of York’s Derby trial, a race that has produced Derby winners such as Golden Horn, Desert Crown and Workforce.
It’s always one of the key pointers for Epsom and it will be this year with no standout colt at this stage of the season for the big race.
Godolphin have a very exciting candidate in the shape of Ancient Wisdom. This son of Dubawi won his first two starts as a juvenile last term before racing too keenly in the Winkfield Stakes but he put that run behind towards the end of the campaign.
He gained a first success at Pattern level when landing the Autumn Stakes in good style at Newmarket and he then went on to take his form to new heights when landing the Group 1 Futurity at the end of the campaign.
Despite winning, he didn’t look particularly well suited to the testing ground when landing his first Group 1 and he gave the impression that further on a sounder surface would be right up his street, circumstances that he’ll get at York on Thursday.
There are some nice types in opposition including Al Musmak who might be the one to chase him home but they all have a fair bit to find to get to the level of Ancient Wisdom and he can enhance Godolphin’s claims of getting another Derby next month.
