EXCEL AIMING FOR TOP-LEVEL TRIUMPH

Marco Botti is keen for Excelebration to add a Group One victory to his CV before letting him renew rivalries with unbeaten colt Frankel.

Excelebration has won two of his four starts this season, running away with the German 2000 Guineas and beating a clutch of smart older horses in Saturday's Hungerford Stakes at Newbury.

His defeats in the Greenham Stakes and in the St James's Palace Stakes have both come at the hands of Sir Henry Cecil's wonder horse.

Botti said: "I'm really pleased with how he has come out of the race. He seems very well, he's bouncing and he looks good.

"We were obviously quite confident he could run a big race at Newbury, but the manner in which he won was very impressive.

"I said he had strengthened up a lot since Ascot and that looked to be the case on Saturday. I am very happy with him.

"We will stick to the original plan and go for the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp (September 11) next.

"It would be nice for him to win a Group One race and I am sure he is more than capable of doing that.

"If we can avoid Frankel and win the Group One, then we can then take him on again at Ascot in the QEII. If we could finish second to Frankel again, we would be very happy as it is a very prestigious race."

Botti also had news of Fanunalter, who was fifth in the Sovereign Stakes at Salisbury last week.

"He was very unlucky again and unfortunately it is the second successive year it has happened in that race," Botti added.

"He had a wall of horses in front of him and Adam (Kirby) said he tried to go through a gap three times, but the gap just shut in front of him.

"He didn't have anywhere to go so then he switched him outside and it was too late to catch the first few horses.

"It's a pity because he's still in good nick and he would have finished very close. Whether he would have won or not, I don't know, but he was still full of running and still cruising on the bridle.

"He's in the Celebration Mile but he's unlikely to run there. There is the option of running him in Canada, but I need to talk to the owners."

Read more »

O'BRIEN HOPING FOR DAWN DELIGHT

Joseph O'Brien appears to hold an outstanding chance of riding his first British Group One winner when he gets the leg-up on Await The Dawn in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York.

Injury to Ryan Moore and the lack of a stable jockey at Aidan O'Brien's operation has led to the all-conquering trainer turning to a range of other riders and his son has begun to establish himself as one of the first choices.

Joseph has already enjoyed success in an Irish Classic when taking the 2000 Guineas with Roderic O'Connor and helped Maybe to land the Group Two Debutante Stakes in impressive style earlier this month.

Await The Dawn, who was lightly raced at two and three, looked a star in the making as a four-year-old in the Huxley Stakes at Chester and the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The jockey said: "I haven't ridden him in a race but I know him well at home. He's a lovely big horse and you'd say he was very uncomplicated. His form looks good from Ascot, so hopefully he will run well."

Race sponsor Khalid Abdullah has been linked with the International for many years and almost won it with Twice Over last year before he was pipped by O'Brien's Rip Van Winkle. The three-time Group One winner quelled a dip in his form by striking in the York Stakes over course and distance last month and tries again.

Sir Henry Cecil's stable jockey Tom Queally, however, has opted to ride the same owner's outstanding mare Midday after she claimed the Nassau Stakes for the third year in a row.

The trainer told At The Races: "Twice Over has been with us for quite a few years and has become part of the furniture. Unfortunately in Flat racing, horses tend to leave at the end of their three-year-old careers and I can see why National Hunt trainers get attached to their horses, because they are with them a long time.

"He is a lovely looking horse, big with a good head on him. He's a real gentleman and has done terribly well. He's won the Champion Stakes twice, won the Eclipse. He was pretty good as a three-year-old too, and was third in the St James's Palace. He's a very good horse in his own right."

On the opposition, Cecil added: "Await The Dawn is a decent horse, he won over the trip at Chester and won at Royal Ascot in the Hardwicke. He's a good horse and has only had six or seven runs. He's a pretty formidable opponent, but I'm going to try."

Read more »

FAHEY: HARRISON BACK TO WORKABLE MARK

Ebor week is huge for our yard, everyone loves Royal Ascot but this is where I need winners. It will be tough but then again it always is.

Irish Heartbeat ran better at Doncaster on Saturday and we drop him back to five furlongs for the Symphony Group Handicap, the opening race on Wednesday. The more rain the better for him as it will slow them down a bit. He's been a little disappointing this year but the Doncaster run was a step back in the right direction.

We've also declared Johannes but he ran no race in the Great St Wilfrid on Saturday. It if carries on raining he's not 100 per cent certain to run and I'll have to speak to the owners. They'll be keen to go and we'll make a late decision but soft ground would be against him.

Our Boy Jack runs in the sportingbet.com Nursery at 1615. He's got to step up on what he's done so far but he's a nice horse. He was favourite for the Brocklesby and we thought quite a lot of him early on but he's taken a while to get his head in front.

He did that the last day though and just recently is starting to get everything together. He could run a big race in a competitive contest.

I'll have my hands full before the Patrington Haven Leisure Park Handicap as we have four runners in Wednesday's finale.

Our Joe Mac ran well at Goodwood, he came there strongly and I thought he was going to win. The ground will be perfect for him at York and he just needs a little luck. We fancied him for the Lincoln and while he hasn't won this season he has run some very good races. He's been very consistent but has to step up again - this is the Ebor Meeting.

The handicapper has Demolition to a tee. He keeps running well and his rating isn't dropping. He'll need others to underperform to win but is in great form.

Kay Gee Be is also as high as he wants to be and we have no excuses, his last two runs are as good as he is. There could be a little left in Ingleby Spirit who has had a break and will love the ground. We've schooled him and he's ready to go jumping but we thought we'd give him another spin on the Flat. It'll be tough and if I had to pick one of ours it would be Our Joe Mac.

Thursday opens with the DBS Premier Yearling Stakes and we've two runners chasing the big pot.

Miss Work Of Art is proving just a little disappointing of late and it's just a case of have the other two-year-olds caught her up. She's never run on the ground before but that could be in her favour and she's working well.

Worthington hasn't done much wrong but needs to step to win this. It's a race that the colts have traditionally dominated and it will be interesting to see what happens.

The Addleshaw Goddard Stakes is a very competitive handicap. Harrison George has come down to a workable mark and loves the track, it's very, very tough but if he's back to his best he'd be my best chance of winning it.

Prime Exhibit has had a good break and will love the ground but Harrison looks back on a winning mark and can hopefully run very well.

Cracking Lass has 16lbs to find on the principals in the EBF 'Selkirk' Galtres Stakes and we're just trying to nick a bit more Black Type with her. She was placed in the Braveheart at Hamilton and we'd like a bit more. We could have found an easier race to do it in but we've stuck blinkers on her for the first time.

I'll be back on Thursday evening with my thoughts on the team for the rest of the meeting but over the opening two days my best bet would be Harrison George each-way.

Read more »

BOOKMAKERS AWAIT THE DAWN

Aidan O'Brien has won two of the last three runnings of the Juddmonte International Stakes - and bookmakers are clearly anticipating Await The Dawn extending his fine record in the 10-furlong showpiece.

O'Brien's son Joseph is given the opportunity to claim his first British Group One on clear stable first choice Await The Dawn, who is set to go off at close to even money in the betting.

The junior O'Brien has taken advantage of the injury to Ryan Moore and the lack of a stable jockey at Ballydoyle and his father picked him for Await The Dawn, who is lightly raced and has looked a star in the making as a four-year-old in the Huxley Stakes at Chester and the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The teenager rode his first Classic on Roderic O'Connor in the Irish 2000 Guineas, but that one will be partnered by Colm O'Donoghue, and is on a retrieval mission after the French and Irish Derby.

Windsor Palace and Seamie Heffernan are set for pacemaking duties.

"I haven't ridden him in a race but I know him well at home," Joseph O'Brien said of Await The Dawn.

"He's a lovely, big horse and you'd say he was very uncomplicated.

"His form looks good from Ascot, so hopefully he will run well."

Khalid Abdullah yearns to win the race he sponsors and has encouraged trainer Sir Henry Cecil to field both Midday and Twice Over, who will give O'Brien a stiff challenge.

He almost won it with Twice Over last year before he was pipped to the post by O'Brien's Rip Van Winkle and his three-time Group One winner quelled a dip in his form this season by striking in the York Stakes over course and distance last month.

Cecil's stable jockey Tom Queally, however, has opted to ride the outstanding mare Midday after she claimed the Nassau Stakes for the third year in a row.

"The race is fraught with great possibilities and great interest for us all," the owner's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe told Racing UK.

"Prince Khalid has supported the race and has been a fantastic supporter of York.

"This is a race everyone connected with Juddmonte would dearly like to win, not least of all the boss, and he is sending his two currently most suitable and ready horses to go.

"I think Tom would have preferred not to have made the decision (which horse to ride), but the way Midday came back at Goodwood was very pleasing.

"I wish we had 20 more like Twice Over as he has been such a reliable, genuine, charming horse.

"He's still tremendously enthusiastic in his work and goes really nicely.

"The filly still likes it as well, so we're giving it our best shot."

Cecil is equally enchanted by Twice Over, who has now reached the age of six. "Twice Over has been with us for quite a few years and has become part of the furniture," he told At The Races.

"Unfortunately in Flat racing, horses tend to leave at the end of their three-year-old careers and I can see why National Hunt trainers get attached to their horses, because they are with them a long time.

"He is a lovely looking horse, big with a good head on him. He's a real gentleman and has done terribly well. He's won the Champion Stakes twice, won the Eclipse. He was pretty good as a three-year-old too, and was third in the St James's Palace. He's a very good horse in his own right."

On the opposition, Cecil added: "Await The Dawn is a decent horse, he won over the trip at Chester and won at Royal Ascot in the Hardwicke.

"He's a good horse and has only had six or seven runs. He's a pretty formidable opponent, but I'm going to try."

York clerk of the course William Derby reported showers on the Knavesmire on Tuesday afternoon, meaning 6.4mm of rain had fallen in the previous 48 hours.

The going was reported as good to soft, good in places with a dry night and day in store.

Read more »

SEVILLE TARGETING VOLTIGEUR VICTORY

Seamie Heffernan is optimistic Seville can secure a deserved first victory of the campaign in the sportingbet.com Great Voltigeur Stakes at York on Wednesday.

Having shown smart juvenile form, Aidan O'Brien's son of Galileo was sent off favourite to beat Carlton House in the Dante Stakes at York back in May, but had to make do with the runner-up spot behind the Queen's colt.

He failed to reproduce that form in the Derby at Epsom but has bounced back since, claiming second in the Irish Derby and most recently in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.

Seville currently heads ante-post lists for the St Leger at Doncaster next month and bids to cement his place as favourite for the season's final Classic in this recognised trial on the Knavesmire.

"We're happy enough with him and he seems to be coming out of his races fresh and well," said Heffernan.

"He's getting more mature and stronger all the time, so I'm hoping for a big run tomorrow.

"I don't think ground is any issue with him. I think you just want a bit of luck and want them turning up with a big will every day.

"The Galileo horses seem to be the ones to be with at the moment. They are tough and they are up for it every day.

"I would think if all goes well then the Leger will be his next run after the Voltigeur. This is one of the main Leger trials and I would think that is why Aidan is running him.

"I love riding big-race winners in England I hope I can have another at York."

O'Brien also saddles likely pacemaker Regent Street.

In-form trainer Roger Charlton is represented by Al Kazeem, who makes his first racecourse appearance since landing a 10-furlong Newbury handicap in May.

Charlton said: "It's a considerable step up in class for him and also a step up in distance on what looks set to be rain-softened ground.

"He hasn't run since May having had a setback after his last run and while he's in good form and ready to start back, I'm sure he'll improve on what ever he does."

Mark Johnston's Namibian won over two miles in the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot and found the drop in distance no problem when grinding out a determined success in the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

The Cape Cross colt officially has 8lb to find with Seville according to the handicapper but Johnston remains hopeful of a big run.

"It's not all about ratings and he's past handicapping now. He's going to have to run against these horses some time and if he hadn't met them here, he'd have met them in the Leger," said the Middleham handler.

"There are no doubts about trip with this horse. He can compete over any trip you want to throw at him.

"The ground shouldn't be a problem and he's been absolutely fine since Goodwood, so we'll see how we get on."

Read more »

ACOMB TESTER FOR CHAPPLE-HYAM

Peter Chapple-Hyam looks to continue his mini-revival with a big-race winner as Al Khan takes on a host of unknown quantities in the sportingbet.com Acomb Stakes at York on Wednesday.

The popular Chapple-Hyam is operating at a minor fraction of the scale of his 90s pomp when Classics came like London buses, but the stable is flying at the moment with three winners and others running well over the last week.

Al Khan collected a maiden at Doncaster last month but faces other well-regarded recent winners like Furner's Green, Balty Boys and Entifaadha in the seven-furlong Group Three.

"It's a very tough race - I wish I'd run him somewhere else really!" said Chapple-Hyam.

"He's a horse I like a lot and he has obviously improved since Doncaster but he'll need to as there's going to be no hiding place.

"However, we have got to find out how good he is."

Furner's Green leads a three-strong team from Aidan O'Brien's stable.

O'Brien's son Joseph steered the son of Dylan Thomas to a three-length defeat of stablemate and Acomb rival Battle Of Saratoga at Tipperary, with fourth-placed East Meets West also making the trip from Ireland.

Both the other runners were beaten by Strait Of Zanzibar in the Hurricane Run Stakes back at Tipperary this month.

"I rode him in his maiden at Tipperary, where he won nicely," said Joseph O'Brien.

"He's a nice horse and I'm looking forward to it."

Seamie Heffernan, who takes the mount on Battle Of Saratoga, added: "We've got three nice colts in the race. My fellow ran second at Tipperary last time and the horse that Colm O'Donoghue rides (East Meets West) ran in the same race and looked a bit unlucky in third.

"I'd imagine Joseph's horse is the classiest of the three, but all of them are well and you have to run them when you can."

Barry Hills saddles the final runners of his career this week before handing over his famous Lambourn yard to son Charlie next Monday.

The trainer's representative is Balty Boys, who runs in the colours of Sir Alex Ferguson and collected a maiden at Newbury in fluent style last time.

Charlie Hills said: "I think the step up to seven furlongs will really suit this horse. He has plenty of speed, as he showed when winning his maiden, and he is a colt we have always liked."

Richard Hannon's Fort Bastion is given another chance at a high level, despite being without a win in three starts so far.

"Sir Robert Ogden loves having runners at York so this was always the target. He is a maiden taking on 10 previous winners at level weights, but he is a very good maiden, I promise you," the trainer insisted on www.richardhannonracing.tv.

"On his second to 1000 Guineas favourite Maybe in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot, Fort Bastion would have a serious chance, and you can forget his last run in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket as the riding instructions must have got lost in transit.

"Hughesie (Richard Hughes) was banned, so Olivier Peslier rode, and, while I hate blaming jockeys, this was pilot error. OK, he missed the break, but he never got competitive at any stage, and it was a wasted run. We think that Fort Bastion is a decent horse, and, hopefully, he'll prove that here."

Brian Meehan's Archbishop won his only start over the same distance at Sandown late last month and the trainer reported on his website: "Most observers will deduce that he is likely to develop into a smart performer, as that is often the case when our juveniles win first time on the big tracks and we believe and hope that it is. Great chance of a follow-up, albeit in face of potentially smart opponents."

Read more »

PRAY FOR RAIN AT 25/1

Aidan O'Brien could be set for a big day with Await The Dawn and Seville prohibitively priced favourites for the feature races on day one of the York Ebor Festival.

Both have solid chances but the pair are priced accordingly and though I couldn't take them on I wouldn't be wading in on a lumpy double either.

Instead I'll look to the bookends of the card with the opening Symphony Group Handicap a race I particularly want to get my teeth into.

The market leaders look vulnerable here with Ritual flopping at Ascot last time and Ancient Cross beaten the last twice at York off 5lb-lower marks.

There is a decent chance of one going in at a big price in this contest and the outsider I want on my side is RAIN DELAYED at 25/1.

He's presumably that price because he carries top weight from stall 16 but I'm not convinced a stands rail draw is such a bad place to be and with plenty of pace up the middle Tom Queally could well drop him in anyway.

He is usually held up and I reckon that style of racing could well benefit in this contest with Fitz Flyer, Favourite Girl and Falasteen all speedballs drawn centrally.

I don't think his weight is an issue either as the last twice he has run in a handicap he's carried either the biggest load or the second biggest - and both times he finished half a length second to Noble Storm.

They were both off handicap marks of 99 (he races off 101 here) and the first of those came at this meeting two years ago, with his latest handicap effort at Newbury in April.

All of his other starts have come at Listed and Group class - his last two efforts coming in those grades behind Masamah here and in a Group 2 at Goodwood.

He tends to run on well off a fast pace over five furlongs so the extra distance here should suit and dropped in grade he looks sure to go well at big odds.

I also cannot resist a small bet on FACE THE PROBLEM at 12/1 as he is another who should benefit from a furious gallop.

He looked a smart juvenile last year with gate to wire successes here and at Thirsk but he probably hasn't got the early speed to repeat that manner of victory these days.

He struggled when tried at pattern level and was rated 108 at one stage but he's back down to a mark of 89 now and that looks a competitive one for him judged by his run at Windsor last time.

He was hampered early but finished his race really well down the outside and his turn might not be far away.

With Silvestre De Sousa booked and stall six an ideal berth to track the pace down the middle he looks worth chancing at around 12/1.

Finally, WORLD HERITAGE looks worth a bet in the closing Patrington Haven Leisure Park Handicap.

He was a decent horse for Pascal Bary and finished second in the Prix Eugene Adam two years ago.

Robert Eddery has struggled a little with him since he came into his yard but the signs last time were good in a handicap at Newmarket where he raced with his old zest off a mark of 95.

Down a further 1lb here he could be primed to strike and is worth a small bet at 20s.

Read more »