1:50 York
LA YAKEL 3/1 generally – 1 PT WIN (5 places, 1/5 odds)
A very competitive handicap and over the last 9 years, it has been won by 9 four year olds. With that in mind the place you have to start is with the 4 year olds, and at the time of writing we have 9 4 year olds running in the race. Furthermore, from those 4 year olds, I have LA YAKEL marked down in my tracker as the perfect type of horse for a course like York. So straight away without even going through the race with a fine tooth comb, my past study and analysis into individual horses which I spend hours putting together after watching hundreds of hours of replays, puts me straight on to LA YAKEL.
Now I am a little bit annoyed that the price is now 7/2 after being as big as 6/1 last night but I can’t not put him up after all the positives I have marked against his name.
I also do my own price tissue and I make LA YAKEL at 11/4 favourite so despite missing out on the 6/1, we are still ahead and have a little bit of value.
LA YAKEL is a horse trained by William Haggas and only had 5 career starts last season, coming away with 2 wins, which included a win at Ascot off a mark of 87. He then went to Newmarket and came home 4th of 16 when sent off 100/30 favourite but after watching the replays, I am not sure he coped that well with the dip.
He is a horse who seems to do much of his best work at the end of the race and does not like getting to the front too soon.
York is perfect for that type of horse as when they turn in, they have a long straight which will no doubt suit LA YAKEL no end.
He lines up rated 92 but I think he could and will turn out at least a 100 rated horse with the improvement I am expecting from the horse this year.
We have Tom Marquand in the saddle who is very strong in a finish and with this long straight, horse and jockey are a perfect combination. WIN.
2:25 York
FIRST FOLIO 11/1 generally – 0.5 POINTS E/W (6 places, 1/5 odds)
I have had this race marked down for FIRST FOLIO for a while and I wanted him to be drawn near the pace so he could get a lovely toe into the race. He is drawn in 21 which is right next to Dakota Gold who will no doubt be making the pace here, meaning FIRST FOLIO should get carried into the race.
The weather in York is forecast dry and the more the ground dries out the better for FIRST FOLIO.
I followed this horse last season and I have no doubt on a going day, he has this type of race in him.
He has already shown a liking to the course back in 2021 when winning over course and distance.
He is rated 100 by the handicapper which is about right and I expect FIRST FOLIO to travel nicely into the race and hopefully when Daniel Muscutt pushes the button, he takes off.
He had a nice prep race on the All Weather at Kempton 6 weeks ago, so he should be coming into the race a primed horse.
If we go by the last 2 winners of this race on the same ground, they were both drawn high, so if that is anything to go by, we are drawn in the right place. E/W.
JPW Racing Tipster
