TONY CALVIN: WEDNESDAY’s ITV details – two to consider at 14s and 16s, and others at 25s

2.20pm York – 14/1 Fire could possess the cutting Blade

Fireblade is certainly not as sexy as the unexposed Klassleader, the market leader at a best-priced [11/4] here  – you can attach William Haggas’ name to a donkey and that’d be the early favourite for a 0-105 handicap at a Group 1 track – but I think he is a very solid place proposition here.

He wouldn’t be an obvious shortener from a generally available [12/1] – and he could well hit 14s again (that was taken on Monday)- but I personally think there is mileage in that price from an each-way perspective.

If you can get the 12s, four places, which is available in one spot, then so much the better.

Let’s deal in the real world here, though; 12s each way, three places is fine.

But he has just hit 14s again (in three places) on Tuesday morning.

The horse was bought for 38,000gns out of the Gozzas’ stable in January 2025 and Dylan Cunha did very well with him last season, winning at the first time of asking at Leicester, netting another success at the Shergar Cup (bagging £39,344 in the process) in July and then losing by two noses when third off this mark over 2m here in September.

Watching the race live, I thought he had won there.

He blew out in the Cesarewitch afterwards but he ran a race full of promise when fourth over a clearly inadequate 1m2f at Pontefract last month, in a race run in a good time.

The form of the race is not working out too well so far with the third and fifth well humped since (the first two have not raced subsequently) but connections must have been delighted with him, and the step up to 1m4f is an obvious plus.

Two miles may be more his bag but the Leicester win came over 1m4f and a decent surface is what he wants, though rain is forecast on Wednesday (though he did have form on soft when with the Gosdens).

Cunha was going through a quietish spell before having a winner at Windsor last week – and he had another one at [9/2] on Monday, to further steady the ship – and hopefully there is enough pace in here (see below) to bring his stamina firmly into the equation.

This is the long term plan for him

And this has been a long term plan. This is what Cunha told the ATR website on March 31.

He said: “Fireblade is a good stayer and he won at the Shergar Cup for us. He’s had a good winter and he’ll be in all those big staying races. He likes fast ground and he’ll start when the ground firms up. I’m looking at a mile and a quarter at Pontefract and then York will be next — there’s a nice mile and a half handicap at York which he’ll go for at the Dante meeting.”

2.40pm Yarmouth – No details forthcoming as of yet

They have been watering at Yarmouth for at least a week – and probably well before that, too – but the problem is they are not telling us how much and they have not produced a going stick reading as at 6.23am on Tuesday.

With around 7mm of rain due from 4am on Wednesday, let’s hope we don’t have problems (which may be why ARC don’t disclose watering levels, as all courses are requested to do by the BHA, if not instructed).

The levels of watering could be highly relevant if the forecast rain arrives.

The ground is officially good to firm, good in places with a soil moisture reading also given.

I’ll leave this 0-90 5f handicap until tomorrow (Wednesday) then, when we hopefully have a better idea of what is going on.

2.55pm York – 25/1 Russet Gold has claims but a questionable draw perhaps

I personally need a very good reason to get involved in a sprint handicap and this 6f contest sees a maximum field of 22 runners (see balloted out runners below) and it wouldn’t be the easiest to solve.

I suppose the only place to start in these races is the pace map – but that didn’t help either, as I have speed in one and 22 and plenty in between.

Cutting to the chase, I won’t be having a bet in this race but the 25s about Russet Gold could have interested me were he not drawn on a wing in one.

He was rated 105 at his peak when trained by Roger Varian and there was encouragement in his debut fifth to monumental winning drifter Strike Red at Leicester on his debut for Kevin Ryan (won this race in 2023 and 2024, but he does have two others in here) last month, and he is down to 90 now.

And the forecast rain would be no negative for him if it lands.

But I don’t like his draw – it may be great but it may be awful – and his 21 rivals.

Mind you, if you can get the 25s or 22s, six places, that would soften the blow….

3.30pm York – 16/1 Elmonjed makes a lot of appeal with the cheekpieces and tongue-tie back on

Elmonjed had a massive cross through his name in the Abernant on his return at Newmarket last month because he was running without his usual cheekpieces and tongue-tie combination.

But they are both back on here and I was surprised he was as big as 16s when the betting re-opened late on Monday morning.

Less shocked perhaps when all the 16s was gobbled up throughout the day, with the last bit of those odds going at 7pm.

The 14s is available in seven places as this goes live, with four places available with two of them. That extra safety net could come in handy in such a competitive race, if you can access it.

And, as at 10.27am, some 16s has just reappeared in a place if you can get it.

In contrast to Monday’s shortening, he was predictably easy to back at Newmarket, going off at a weak 20s on the fixed-odds front and a massive 36.0 at Betfair SP.

In the circumstances – and in the circumstances of missing headgear, I’d very much be in favour of the stewards asking questions exactly why this was the case beforehand – he ran promisingly enough, especially as he didn’t get a lot of racing room in the closing stages, to be beaten only 3 ½ lengths in ninth.

His official mark of 105 obviously gives him plenty to find here against five Group 1 winners (September Haydock Sprint Cup scorer Big Mojo is the only one to carry a 5lb penalty, as they only kick in after August 31, 2025) but he is a lightly-raced 5yo sprinter and the fact that he has won his last three starts at York (he is three from five in total here, albeit at a much lower level than this) is another clear plus.

These Group race sprints are something of an “After You, Claude” affair and the progressive Elmonjed could be up to taking his winning turn on his first start in this Group 2 grade.

Hopefully, he will sit handy off a strong pace and strike late.

The two negatives for me are the forecast rain and the draw in one (the pace is drawn a lot higher), as well as the progress needed to win this, but I have him down as an improver in a stagnant pool of a sprint division and 14s looks fair.

Of the Group 1 winners, Time For Sandals is currently favourite at [9/2]  so her backers are expecting the Commonwealth Cup winner to come on appreciably for her reappearance fifth in the Abernant, just under 2 lengths ahead of Elmonjed.

In fact, she is now 4s and that price could be coming under pressure, too.

4.05pm York – No issue with the current prices here

Only six runners in the Musidora, with some low-level padding in the shape of a brace of 82-rated fillies in K Sarra and Della Pace, though there could be significant improvement to come from that pair as they step up in trip.

The form filly going into the race is Legacy Link and she is the early [11/8] favourite.

She is bred to excel at this trip, being out of a 1m4f-winning sister to none other than Frankel, and her 4 ½-length fourth in the Fillies’ Mile is clearly the best form on show here.

So far.

That Fillies’ Mile form has been boosted by the second and third this season (Venetian Lace and Evolutionist), if not the winner Precise, so I have no issue with her price.

She finished two lengths clear of Moments Of Joy at Newmarket, and common sense suggests she should confirm the form, as the Aidan O’Brien filly was underwhelming on her return at the Curragh last month.

But that came on deep ground and at least she had a run, so I wouldn’t be writing her off just yet.

In fact, Legacy Link is the only one of the six in here not to have had a 2026 outing.

The second favourite Felicitas, at [11/4], was very impressive when winning a 1m2f novice at Sandown on her return – I was told a very interesting story about her owners TBT Racing, but I better not go there… – and I’d agree with the betting that she is the one most likely to stick it up to the favourite.

4.40pm York – 25/1 Daydreama may atone for that nightmare run last time

Passing Thought is a NR as at 12.26pm (lame).

That’s a big NR as there are only 15 runners now.

The pace in this 7f handicap is middle to high (see below), and maybe Daydreama in 15 could come out best.

The general 20s about him looks fair enough in a wide-open handicap, and the 25s in one place is even better if you can access it.

His reappearance last of seven over 6f at Pontefract was obviously a total write-off – slow start, door closed on him when going for a run up the inner etc – so I am very surprised the handicapper dropped him 2lb for it.

He also ended last season with an underwhelming run at that track, but we can forgive him that effort over 1m on soft ground, and his earlier two runs over this course and distance give him a decent chance here.

He was a close third in a 7f conditions race here , beaten a nose and a neck trying to give weight to higher-rated horses – that is the run that makes him well weighted off 88 here – and he had previously enjoyed a far from ideal passage when seventh in a big-field handicap in August.

BEST BETS (get the best price/each way terms your accounts allow)

Fireblade at 14/1 each way in 2.20pm at York

Elmonjed at 16/1 each way in 3.30pm at York

(Price for Russet Gold quickly collapsed and he is now a mere,, walkaway, 14s)

1.COURSE DETAILS

YORK

GOING: Good, good to firm in places

Whole course verti drained

Going Stick: 5.9, Tuesday 8.20am

Moisture Meter 39%

Rails: Planned rail positions from 9f to the entrance to the Home Straight: Wednesday – Innermost. Thursday – 3m out: Friday – 6m out.

Stalls: 5f, 6f and 1m4f – Centre. Remainder – Inside Rail

Tuesday course update: Dry overnight and a cool, dry, cloudy Tuesday morning. Recent rainfall of 0.2mm Monday, 18.4 mm rain in May. Met Office forecast; Tuesday – cloudy and cool and mainly dry. Frequent blustery showers with sunny spells on Wednesday and Thursday, occasionally heavy with a risk of thunder. Friday mainly dry and mostly cloudy, with some bright or sunny spells. Feeling rather cool, 13 – 14 degrees Live links to the Met Office and our Weather Station are available at www.yorkracecourse.co.uk Home Page, click through for full Going report.

Watering: None specified

Yr.no latest (5.22am Tuesday): 1.1mm Tuesday; 5.2mm Wednesday (starting at midday in the main)

YARMOUTH

GOING: Good to firm, good in places

Going Stick: 5.6, Tuesday 7.30am

Soil Moisture: 38%

Stalls: Straight – centre

Tuesday course update: The forecast is dry mainly dry Tuesday, Wednesday starts dry then showers from midday, temps up to 13c.

Watering: Selective watering to maintain ( chute and bend)

Course watering History on BHA site

Yr.no latest (5.22am Tuesday):  Light showers if anything Tue; 6.9mm Wednesday

2.BALLOTED OUT (be sure to get your money back on these horses)

2.55pm York: Fivethousandtoone, Havana Rum, Lethal Nymph, Miraculous,  Yes I’m Mali

3.FIRST-TIME HEADGEAR STATS

David O’Meara cheekpieces; Prince Of The Seas, 2.20pm York; 23-157 (since 2016)

Geoffrey Harker cheekpieces; Sir Yoshi, 2.55pm York; 1-13 (2017)

Andrew Balding visor; Tropical Storm, 2.55pm York; 18-177 (2009)

4.PACE MAPS (manually assessed)

2.20pm York:  King’s Code (prom – drawn 6 ), Will Scarlet (7), Sing Us A Song (3), Prince Of The Seas (prom – 8)

2.40pm Yarmouth: Kinswoman (5), Naana’s Sparkle (prom – 4), Michaela’s Boy (prom – 7), Grandlad (6), Almaty Star (13), Forager (3), Twilight Fun (12)

2.55pm York: Pocklington (7), Desert Falcon (14), We Never Stop (2), Russet Gold (1), Wicket Keeper (20), Dark Thirty (4), American Style (22)

3.30pm York: Crestofdistinction (8), Diligent Harry? (4), Quinault (13), Regional (9)

4.05pm York: Legacy Link (5), Moments Of Joy (3)

4.40pm York: Ellusive Butterfly (8), Hasbro Market (10), Inishbeg (16), First Time (8), Gold Queen Kindly (13), Awraad (5)  – Passing Thought NR

5.TRAINERFORM (manually assessed) – form going into Tuesday’s racing

Good:  William Haggas, John and Thady Gosden, Aidan O’Brien, Andrew Balding, Ollie Sangster (5-4 winner on Monday), Gemma Tutty, Adrian Keatley, Ralph Beckett (4-1 and 7-2 winners on Monday)

Fair: Lemos De Souza, Robert Cowell, Chelsea Banham, Ross Burdon, Richard Hughes, Scott Dixon (no winners), George Boughey, Ed Walker, Iain Jardine, David O’Meara, David Evans, Simon and Ed Crisford, Dylan Cunha (another 9-2 winner on Monday) , Kevin Ryan, Clive Cox, Richard Hannon, Richard and Peter Fahey, Ruth Carr (9-1 winner on Monday), John and Sean Quinn, Michael Dods, Jim Goldie, Jack Channon (5-4 winner on Monday), James Fanshawe, Harry Eustace, Karl Burke, Tim Easterby, Charlie Fellowes (fair/good), Roger Fell (7-1 winner on Monday)

Moderate:  Tom Clover (The Wizard Of Eye’s 20-1 win and a Windsor second on Monday – so fair/moderate), James Horton, Stuart Williams,  Brian Ellison, Julie Camacho, Michael and David Easterby, Antony Brittain, Mick Appleby, Ed Bethell

Don’t know (small samples): Simon Pearce, Phil McEntee, Geoff Oldroyd, David and Nicola Barron (probably fair/moderate)