16:20 York We start our patent with a listed contest for three year olds on the minimum trip. Tendu from the John Gosden stable is the current market leader and this Oasis Dream Filly is very deserving of her place. She finished second to the ultra-exciting Limato on her seasonal debut and finished her two year old season four lengths behind Tiggy Wiggy. The form of them two runs should be enough to see her through in this contest however she was a lot closer to Limato on paper than in reality, given that horse would be expected to come on majorly for the run. The form of her only win (a maiden at Kempton) has not worked out well, and while winning that comfortably I would question her for win purposes. Strath Burn has been tried in Group company since winning first time up. Finishing behind the likes of Kool Kompany at two. However he was well behind Tendu on reappearance and would be unlikely that he will reverse that form given he is five pounds wrong at the weights. Fast Act has the services of Ryan Moore for the first time today and clearly didn’t handle Wolverhampton last time out. His form petered out towards the end of last season and the highly tried son of Fast Company needs to show he retains some of his two year old ability. One who has shown that they have trained on is Zuhoor Baynoona who has won her last two starts one at this level. She is penalised for that win and must go well again for Yorkshire based Richard Fahey. A now show in the Cheveley Park Group One at Newmarket. However I can forgive that run as not much from the rear got into the race. Coming here looking for a hat trick after wins at Musselburgh and Bath over todays distance she should run her race and would be disappointed if not filling the places at the least. Blue Aegean and Lightscameraaction filled the first two places in the AW championship sprint and well capable of getting involved her if showing same attitude on turf. Zuhoor Baynoona (E/W) 17:20 York From a sprint to a marathon we move on to the last race at York on Day two of their May festival. A wide open contest with two progressive types currently leading the market. Moscato and Steve Rodgers have both run up recent sequences and if dealing with their new marks should be hard to beat. To my eye Steve Rodgers is the most likely to improve, with this step up in trip that he seemed to be crying out for after his last win at Nottingham. His five pound raise for that win is not excessive however he is sure to be short in the market for a race like this and is overlooked on pure value. Moscato is likely to be similarly short and this is a typical Mark Prescott horse and has improved no end as a three year old and continued that improvement hasn’t looked like stopping this year. Un- penalised for his last run. The likely favourite has to be given the utmost respect in this field. Most of the remainder don’t appear to have a progressive profile and appear to be handicapped to the max potential. The selection is Trendsetter who is fit after a stint over hurdles and is a flat winner over slightly shorter when in the hands of John Butler. While this is a step up in class he was running in good hurdle races and is well thought off by connections. John Quinn is the new trainer and there looks to be improvement in his handicap mark on his second start for this yard. The son of Mastercraftsman can go well at a good E/W price. Trendsetter (E/W) 17:50 Newmarket We head south to Lambourn for the last selection. The horse to focus on in this ten furlong contest is Ninety Minutes. A winner of a class six on his second to last run before been upped to class four last time out. He is now dropped in class and has a nice racing weight. This horse has been the model of consistency on the all-weather since February, rarely running a bad race. He especially showed his liking for turf last time out, narrowly going down a neck when completely unfancied. He is the market leader and fully deserves his place. I expect him to go very close. In truth it is a pretty uninspiring race and the only other horse that takes my eye is the top weight The Third Man. Consistent in all six runs to date (mostly on the AW) but has the three pound claim off his back today which sees him running his lowest mark. However he is clearly tricky to win with and will likely find one too good again. Ninety Minutes (WIN)
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