The best bets and latest news in our daily horse racing blog
Dettori scores again ? for Joey Barton
4.45pm: Dettori completed a treble when driving My Propeller (4-1) home to take the Julia Graves Roses Stakes. The Peter Chapple-Hyam-trained filly had won by a huge margin at Pontefract in June, but was then well beaten in the Cherry Hinton Stakes.
The drop to five furlongs proved to her liking as she came through on the stands rail in the final furlong to take Listed honours by a length from Last Bid, in the colours of Newcastle United footballer Joey Barton. "Our horses have been on fire the last two weeks," said Chapple-Hyam's travelling head lad Ronan Meehan.
"The owner couldn't get here as Newcastle were playing today, but he'll be a happy man as they won as well, and the boss is buying a horse at Deauville. This filly appreciated going back to five against lesser opposition."
Moyenne Corniche lifts Ebor Handicap at York
3.52pm: Greg Wood at York The 25-1 outsider Moyenne Corniche gave the bookmakers another York gift by winning the Ebor Handicap, arriving late to defy a renewed challenge by pacemaker Tactician (9-1).
The Brian Ellison-trained Moyenne Corniche came with a strong run to win the race under Dale Swift as Joseph O'Brien, on Tactician, almost pulled off one of the rides of the season ? but could finish only second.
Moyenne Corniche won by a length, with Investissement (25-1) third and Modun (7-1) fourth. In fifth place was Saptapadi, the heavily backed stablemate of the winner.
Frankie Dettori doubles up with Opinion Poll at York
3.22pm: Greg Wood at York A quick double for Godolphin and Frankie Dettori as Opinion Poll gets the better of a prolonged struggle with Duncan to take the Group Two Lonsdale Stakes.
Harris Tweed set a steady pace until two furlongs from home, where the race really started to take shape, and though it took longer than seemed likely for Opinion Poll to inch his way past Duncan, he got there in the end to win at 3-1 favourite.
However, the siren then sounded for a stewards' inquiry because the winner looked to have taken Duncan's ground in the closing stages. But after the inquiry, the result stood.
Barry Hills bows out with winner at Chester
3.05pm Barry Hills won the second race at Chester today with Na Zdoravie, on the weekend when he ends his training career spanning four decades. It was an entirely appropriate victory because Chester has for long been a happy hunting ground for Hills.
Hills senior, who started training in 1969, has saddled more than 3,200 winners including 10 Classic victories. He is passing the keys to Faringdon Place to his 32-year-old son and assistant Charlie.
Na Zdoravie, a warm favourite, was ridden by Robert Winston.
Frankie Dettori claims Melrose on Parlour Games
2.45pm: Greg Wood at York Frankie Dettori, who will ride Lost In The Moment for Godolphin in the Ebor Handicap later this afternoon, was a winner over the same course and distance and in the same silks as Parlour Games took the Melrose Handicap.
Whiplash Willie looked to be going best two furlongs from home, but he did not seem to find as much as he promise when David Probert asked for his finishing kick. Dettori came with a strong run on the far side and did enough to hold off Whiplash Willie, with Apache and Joseph O'Brien back in third.
The winner returned at 9-1, with Whiplash Willie at 10-1 and Apache at 17-2. Ardlui was fourth at 10-1.
Silvestre de Sousa and Doncaster Rover win City Of York
2.10pm The final day of the Ebor festival got off to a pulsating start when Silvestre de Sousa on Doncaster Rover got up in the last couple of strides to beat his jockeys' title rival Paul Hanagan on Majestic Myles in the City Of York Stakes.
The winner, the 5-1 joint-favourite (and Will Hayler's selection), clocked a time that indicated the ground had dried out since yesterday. Before the race, the official going had been changed to 'Good'.
Today's best bets, by Will Hayler
Mount Athos can prove to be the pick of a good bunch in this year's Betfred Ebor Handicap. Form students might wait weeks for a well-handicapped, talented, progressive performer to come along only for a dozen of them to turn up at once in this competitive contest. Lost In The Moment and Fox Hunt both caught the eye in the Goodwood Cup, while Cill Rialaig and Saptapadi also make appeal, having both been laid out for this.
Jamie Spencer got things wrong on Mount Athos (3.40) at both Chester and Haydock this season, on both occasions setting his mount far too stiff a task, but Wayne Lordan - who partnered the horse to victory at Dundalk first time out this season - is back on board now.
With the field expected to swing wide off the home turn, the disadvantage of a high draw is negated and Lordan will hopefully have his mount more prominently positioned in the early stages than Spencer has recently preferred. In a big field, with the runners likely to be fighting for the best ground in the home straight, trying to come from too far back could be fraught with danger.
Mount Athos, who showed his liking for course and distance when taking the Melrose at this meeting last year, has not had a chance to show what he can do of late. Today represents a golden opportunity.
York 2.00 The frustrating Dream Eater has a form edge but cannot be relied upon, so the selection goes to Doncaster Rover, who has been performing better than ever in recent starts and should be ideally suited by race conditions.
Sandown 2.15 After he encountered a predictably difficult passage in attempting to come through the field, Arch Fire's final lunge came just too late at Goodwood but that form is working out well and he is entitled to gain compensation here.
York 2.30 The handicapper could have been harsher in his treatment of Lyric Street for his latest performance against pattern-race rivals in a sales race and he is unmistakably an improving performer.
Sandown 2.45 Trumpet Major was impressive in his latest victory but may struggle to reverse the form of a short-head defeat at the hands of Talwar on his previous start.
York 3.05 Off the track since failing to see out the trip in the Gold Cup, Duncan will have been freshened up by his subsequent absence and that can only be a positive for his chances here, as he often goes well after a break. He holds Blue Bajan on Yorkshire Cup form.
Horse sense
Sir Michael Stoute's team have endured an up-and-down time at York but Modun (3.40) carries plenty of confidence in the Ebor. A late-maturing sort, he has worked with this week's Voltigeur winner Sea Moon recently and was unlucky to go down to Arlequin at Goodwood last time, but has thrived at home since.
His stablemate Blissful Moment is quite lightly framed and may struggle to handle any rough and tumble. Cill Rialaig comes with a positive message and is another to consider in a wide-open race.
Kieren Fallon partners Lyric Street (2.30) in plenty of his work at home and rides him in the Melrose. He has gone up in the weights after his latest good run, but has considerable scope for further improvement.
Brian Meehan saddles three good ones in a hot-looking Atalanta at Sandown but while plenty is known about Strawberry-daiquiri and Theyskens' Theory, Martin Dwyer has opted to ride the less-heralded stablemate Brevity (3.20). Of the three, she works the best on the gallops.
At the same track, Arch Fire (2.15) is expected to take some beating in the opener. He can be quite exuberant in his work and often takes the eye. This more galloping track is expected to suit better than Goodwood, where he took time to find top gear on the undulations.
Nicky Henderson heads north for some good prize-money at Perth, with high hopes for General Miller (3.45) and his close relative Lieutenant Miller (5.25), the recent poor form of the former horse having possibly been explained by the identification of an unusual bone-marrow problem.
Seen and heard
There's no shame in leaving the car parked overnight at the racecourse if you've had one too many and, each day, a small number of racegoers at York's Ebor meeting have been happy to abandon their vehicles overnight on the Knavesmire. However, it is impossible to cover up the fact that celebrations might have gone further than expected when your vehicle is plastered with your own name. Step forward trainer Nigel Tinkler, who saddled the 20-1 winner of the nursery on the Wednesday and whose sponsored car remained in splendid isolation in the car park on Thursday morning.
Officials at York have always taken pride in their racecard and the track pioneered a new initiative this week when printing QR codes, patterned digital images that smartphone owners can scan, leading straight to a video of the previous year's race on Racing UK's website.
It was good to see the Betfred supremo Fred Done at the track to help promote his firm's big race yesterday, especially after he said in an interview last year that he had "lost interest" in the sport. Dedicated racing fans leaving the course might have been less impressed to find Betfred promotional girls handing out vouchers for �5 of free plays on fixed-odds betting machines in his four shops in the city centre (one of which was still a Totesport outlet at 10am on Wednesday, but had been re-branded before nightfall).
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/aug/20/horse-racing-live-20-august-2011
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