Owen Burrows wants a grand Duke Of York for Minzaal

Owen Burrows hasn't got a thousand men to go into battle at York on Wednesday in the 1895 Duke Of York Clipper Logistics Stakes but Minzaal could be enough.

The lightly raced four-year-old ran twice last year, both times at Ascot, finishing second in a listed race and then third in the Group 1 British Champions Sprint Stakes.

That third was a solid showing from the Mehmas colt and built on a win in the Gimcrack as a two-year-old.

"I was thrilled with how he ran on Champions Day. I thought he performed with a lot of credit and proved that he still retains plenty of his ability," said Burrows.

"He has been with me all winter, ticking over. Physically he has really strengthened up this year and I've had a good preparation with him. It's the start of his season, so he will come on for it.

"But it will be good to get him back on the track and obviously he was impressive in the Gimcrack at York. You could see halfway through the race how well he was travelling. He doesn't overdo himself when he hits the front, but it was a very impressive performance.

"I think that proved he was certainly a quality horse - hopefully he'll get his chance this year to prove it as well."

Vadream was further back in fifth at Ascot on British Champions Day and is one of a pair in the race for Charlie Fellowes alongside stablemate Ejtilaab.

The talented Dragon Symbol has left Archie Watson and has been snapped up by Roger Varian and the Newmarket trainer will be aiming to transfer the four-year-olds innate ability into further wins.

David Evans' Rohaan is another rapid horse looking to regain form after a last time out fifth in Saudi Arabia.

Emaraaty Ana has too many recent zeros in his form for Kevin Ryan's liking and the Northern trainer is keen to get his gelding back to the form of last Summer when the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup was landed. The Platinum Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot is the plan should things go well at York.

Ryan said: "He's in good form, obviously he's on a recovery mission as he didn't perform over in Dubai. He's got a penalty as well, but we just need to run him somewhere before Ascot, so it's going to be a tough test for him and we just hope he runs well. We'd just like to see a good run."