Coral Racing Ambassador, Hugo Palmer discusses his runners on day one of the Ebor Festival at York!

13:50 York – Dubai Bling & Stratusnine

This is a meeting I’m always keen to support as they put on such good prize money and we start with two in the opening race of the week. There is precious little between Dubai Bling and Stratusnine, indeed nothing at all on official ratings and that’s exactly how I see them at home.

I deliberately chose an even draw for Dubai Bling in the Coral Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood to ensure he wouldn’t be in the stalls too long that day but they stuck him in third and he was in there so long that he got agitated. Disappointingly he ended up being slowly away in the end. The starter complained about Stratusnine’s loading that day, so it’s fair to say that I chose to counter back at him about how long Dubai Bling ended up waiting!

The latter is drawn in 17 here, with Stratusnine in 16 but I hope that the starter will load Dubai Bling later on. If he can then get away on good terms, or at least doesn’t miss the start like he did at Goodwood, I think he has a very solid chance and the same applies to Stratusnine; as long as they are both drawn in and around the right area, I can see them both having a strong run.

I honestly think there is a chance that they could finish first and second as they are both creeping up in the handicap.

14:25 York – Stardom Glory

Stardom Glory is a horse that I have always loved. I have always slightly thought he was my best 2-year-old and that’s why we are being bold running him here. To be honest, because of this, I have been slightly disappointed by him. I had hoped that he’d win on debut and then I thought the same ahead of his second run but sadly it was not to be. Although he lost very little in defeat both times and he did make up for it at Chester last time.

We are jumping in with both feet here as he could have run in the nursery. I do think this is a good race, as most York races are given the prize money on offer. That said, they finished in a bit of a heap in the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood and the runner-up that day, Haffner, who is favourite here, didn’t beat our Velociraptor far at Newmarket beforehand. At this stage of their careers, I’d have Stardom Glory quite a long way ahead of Velociraptor, which gives us plenty of reason to take our chance.

That gives me hope of him running well here and if he can, it will open up some nice options for the rest of the year.

16:45 York – Tricky Tel

I did have to push the owners quite hard to run here, as they were keen to run at Chester on Saturday but that race – a 0 – 95 handicap on an August Saturday – is worth £20,000, which I think is an absolute disgrace. I probably will have a runner in the Chester race as Roman Dragon qualifies for it but I couldn’t bring myself to run Tricky Tel there when he can run for here for £100,000.

He has done precious little wrong all year and I hope that York will see enough rain to just take the sting out of the ground. It won’t be at all soft but it should be lovely ground which he should enjoy.  He seems in very good form, he’s not just a Chester horse as his victory at Hamilton showed. I think he’s still a well-handicapped horse and I hope he can run well.

17:20 York – Savage Mariner

If the truth be known, this horse has let me down a little. We made excuses for him at Ascot after he lost a shoe in the stalls but I was disappointed with him at Goodwood last time. His work at home had been a bit lazy, so ahead of Goodwood I tried him in blinkers and the difference was extraordinary. We’ve since had him gelded as well, so hopefully the combination of the gelding operation and blinkers can bring about some improvement.

My one concern is that his work was so fast in the blinkers that six furlongs might actually feel like a long way. If he can settle, relax and breathe through the race though, he goes there with a live chance.

Hugo Palmer, Coral Racing Ambassador