York Ebor Betting

The world`s highest rated active racehorse, Frankel, is the headline act on the opening day of the Yorkshire Ebor Festival as he steps up from eight to 10 furlongs.

Eight horses have been declared to race against Frankel in the Juddmonte International Stakes, the Group One race that is sponsored by the champion`s owner, Prince Khalid Abdulla.

Never before has Frankel, who beat Farhh by six lengths in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood to extend his unbeaten record to 12 races, competed over more than a mile but bookmakers expect him to make it lucky 13 and quote him at around 1-7.

Officially, Frankel is rated 16 pounds better than Juddmonte International Stakes second favourite St Nicholas Abbey, while Timeform has 17 pounds between the superstar and two of his Knavesmire opponents, Farhh and St Nicholas Abbey.

Whichever way you look at it, everyone expects Frankel to bolt in, with some bookmakers taking bets on the winning margin of the four-year-old son of Galileo. Incredibly, he is odds on to be victorious by more than six lengths over a distance that is 25 per cent further than he has run before.

The Juddmonte International Stakes may be the best race in terms of quality as the Yorkshire Ebor Festival gets under way but the Great Voltigeur Stakes, which is set to feature Frankel`s younger full brother, is the best betting heat.

Like Frankel, noble Mission was the result of Galileo and Kind spending some time together on a stud farm, and the three-year-old colt has won half of his six career races.

Noble Mission is unlikely to start as the Great Voltigeur Stakes favourite, with that honour likely to be bestowed upon Main Sequence, the five-length Epsom Derby runner-up.

The Great Voltigeur Stakes promises to be a cracking race, with a strong possibility that none of the six runners will jump from the stalls at double-figure odds. Consequently, it is a pretty difficult contest in which to recommend a bet.

But, having said all that, Main Sequence merits favouritism and the three-year-old son of Aldebaran has the potential to make ante-post quotes of around 5-2 look rather generous.

On a form line through Epsom Derby fourth Thought Worthy, Main Sequence has the beating of noble Mission and Thomas Chippendale, while he was mightily unlucky not to win the French Derby at Longchamp. He found himself short of room, Ted Durcan having to steady his mount in the final stages.

Main Sequence`s results indicate that he runs well on all going, which is something of value given that many of his Great Voltigeur Stakes rivals seem to favour soft ground.

Godolphin has two runners in the Great Voltigeur Stakes, with Mickael Barzalona booked to ride Encke and Frankie Dettori set to partner Energizer. There is no reason to think that Encke will reverse Goodwood placings with Noble Mission, while the form of Energizer`s Royal Ascot victory is not working out well, although he did win impressively.

This year`s Epsom Derby was not a vintage renewal of the famous classic but Camelot looks like a decent winner and Main Sequence could force handicappers to rate him highly by taking out the Great Voltigeur Stakes in convincing fashion.

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21/08/2012     © Frixo 2024