The York Dante Festival is underway and after a cracking first day there's still much to look forward to over the next few days on the Knavesmire. Thursday's card is stacked with both big field handicaps and informative Group races. Perhaps the feature race of the meeting, the Dante, will provide us with the next Derby winner as it did with Golden Horn and Desert Crown in 2015 and 2022 respectively. At THM we also love a juicy handicap. So let's get stuck in!
Day 2 kicks off with the Lindum York Handicap (14:15), a 5-furlong sprint, so best fasten your seatbelts for this one. These sprinting specimens will be posting average speeds upwards of 62kph over this minimum sprinting distance - don't blink or you'll miss it. A big shout out to Copper Knight (16/1), who at the age of 10 will be recording his 27th start at York. There are plenty of other previous Course & Distance winners in the field, all of which you can find with ease on the THM racecards.
It would be rude not to have a little dissection of the Dante Stakes (15:45) now, wouldn't it? Ancient Wisdom (5/4) is the worthy favourite for the boys in blue. He only tasted defeat once in five career starts in his 2-year old campaign and is 6lbs clear on official ratings. His Average Speed Analysis stats appear strong and he looks a smashing Derby prospect if he can pass this test. Al Musmak (10/3) and Caviar Heights (5/1) are the main market rivals to the favourite. The former has never run a bad race and boasts 2 wins from 3 starts on the good ground conditions forecasted. Caviar Heights brings different claims given he's the only runner in the field with winning form over this distance.
Remember our THM racecards not only give you unrivalled insights into a horse's performance, but also point to Trainers with noticeable strike rates at specific racecourses in recent times - Charlie Appleby, John Gosden and Clive Cox to name a few that stand out at York.