York best bets: Holloway Boy can challenge favourite in competitive Clipper Handicap
A view of the main grandstands at York racecourse during the John Smith's Racing Handicap, July 10, 2021
The second day of York’s Ebor meeting is chock full of top-quality races, and the Clipper Handicap, run over just shy of a mile, rarely fails to deliver a high-octane contest.
15:00 York: Clipper Handicap (7 furlongs 192 yards)
Four-year-olds have won four of the last five Clipper Handicaps , as well as filling 12 of the 16 places, and the three stand-out contenders in this year’s renewal are all that age: Elnajmm, New Image and Holloway Boy.
Elnajmm is well clear of the others at the head of the early market on the back of Class 2 one-mile wins at both Newcastle and Ascot on his two outings so far this season.
Up another 6lbs, drawn very wide in stall 17, and racing on more of a speed track than for his last two runs, he looks short enough, but he is highly respected, nonetheless.
The best-value option is Holloway Boy, who is up just a pound following three very good efforts in high-class mile handicaps since returning from his last break.
The first of them was in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot in June, which was a stronger handicap than today’s, featuring 29 runners rated up to 111 with 16 of them rated 100+, which compares very favourably with today’s field, in which only three of his rivals are rated over 100.
Holloway Boy finished a never-nearer 5th (beaten 2¼ lengths) but he may well have won that day had he not been blocked in his run from two furlongs out, right up until switching inside with a furlong to go and finishing off best of all to be never nearer than at the line, missing the places by less than a length.
Best Bet: Holloway Boy in the 15:00 at York
ff an unchanged mark next time, and on contrasting soft ground, he ran a close-up second of 10 (beaten half a length) in the Coral Challenge at Sandown.The only one able to beat him was Cicero’s Gift, who is now rated 110 (higher than today’s field) and, considering Holloway Boy looks better on quicker ground, it was another big effort.
And on his latest appearance, off another unchanged mark in the Golden Mile at Goodwood (on good-firm), he finished third of 16, finding that sharp, undulating track less suitable for his galloping style than Ascot and today’s venue.
A fast-run big-field contest on a flat, galloping speed track with fast ground looks perfect for him and yet another big run looks on the cards from the inside draw.
Runners from stalls 1-4 have won four of the last eight renewals with another three runners from that group of stalls filling additional places during that time.
Of the others, New Image is another highly consistent high-class handicapper who boasts figures of 13141321 since arriving at David O’Meara’s yard from Ger Lyons’ Irish operation a year ago.
The four-year-old is still unexposed over a mile, having had his first try over this distance in the Shergar Cup Mile a couple of weeks ago, a valuable event which he won from nine rivals on good-firm ground.
He got up to win in the very last stride, so he clearly gets the new trip very well, and his effort needs marking up a little more because he was very keen in the early stages, a common trait when a horse steps up to a new trip because the initial pace tends to be slower as distances increase.
A fast-run mile, which this is likely to be, will help him settle better, and he has more improvement in him over this trip, so a 3lbs rise won’t stop him from producing another big performance on a galloping track with fast ground.
Next best bet: New Image in the 15:00 at York
- Preview and tips provided Steve Jones, who runs CD Systems Daily Bargain on Tipstrr
