Turf Travel IV

YORK Tote Ebor Meeting 2007

As said before, Yorks Ebor Meeting is an annual must, and again the Knavesmire played host to brilliant racing gallore; we were treated with some major equine performances: Epsom hero Authorized lowered the colours of classy Dylan Thomas (see his entry in the Racing Great section) in no uncertain fashion, the magnificent filly Peeping Fawn swept past her rivals in the Yorkshire Oaks, Purple Moon, the expensive hurdle recruit who could not jump a fence for Nicky Richards, took the Ebor in the style of a very talented horse indeed, oh, and then there were the likes of Mahler, Lucarno, Kingsgait Native etc., to name just a few.

We started the week with a wasted trip to Newbury to see Classic Punch trailing in last (and it rained so hard all day that we were hardly able to take any photos); Pontefract was "business-as-usual" (no photos from gutsy winner Ripples Maid due to weather as well) but the sun and the stars came out at York:

Newbury 18/08/07, driving rain; and Classic Punch might be forgiven for thinking: "Do I really have to go out in that?"

Galactic Star from Sir Michael Stoutes yard, takes the opener in style and is posing proudly for Jimmy after. Clearly a horse to remember!

Its the Lonsdale Cup next but our high hopes for Sergeant Cecil are smashed quite early on as he is never able to land a blow against classy Septimus from the all-conquering Aidan o´Brien yard. Balkan Knight is the gutsy 2nd.

The Cecil arriving at the races:

An unusual angle, but its Septimus on the left from Balkan Knight (in grey), with The Cecil in rear at the very right of the photo. Blue is Distinction.

Another impressive winner is the John-Gosden-trained Lucarno who takes the Great Voltigeur in the style of a St.Leger winner in the making.

And on to one of the highlights of the Meeting and a proper "clash of the titans" with Derby winner Authorized meeting Dylan Thomas and the gutsy Notnowcato. With Team-tactics in mis-use for Dylan who is blocked in by a stable mate at a crucial stage, this made easy pickings for Authorized who poses proudly for Jimmy after:

They do not come any relaxter in the pre-parade than Dylan Thomas:

Notnowcato and Ryan Moore on their way to the start:

Peek-a-boo

The proud winners after:

This was clearly a bit too classy for old favourite Hattan:

Day 2 - EBOR-Day - Sir Gerry wins the Gimcrack in fine style:

On to the Ebor itself and Germany is represented by smart stayer El Tango, who finished a honorable 6th at huge odds of 100/1 could he be one to watch in the Mallard Stakes at Donny?:

Having just taken the Gimcrack onboard Sir Gerry Purple Moon makes it a nice double for jockey Jamie Spencer when taking the Ebor in the style of a really good horse, much to the delight of trainer Luca Cumani who gives Jimmy a "Thumbs up" after !

The Darley-sponsored Yorkshire Oaks was contested by a small but select field, and is once again easy pickings for a very special Aidan o´Brien trained and Coolmore-owned filly; after Alexandrova in 2006 it is the remarkable Peeping Fawn in 2007. This was her fourth Group I win in a row, and her 10th start of the season. They clearly do not come much tougher:

No opponents in sight and jockey J.Murtagh is sitting very pretty when the pair crosses the line about 4 length in front of the nearest pursuer. Apologies for the very difficult light-conditions.

Another classy filly but its a nice place to keep yer purse warm:

With Jamie Spencer bang in form and top of the "Hot-List", this is another potentially very smart filly in Nahoodh, who wins the Lowther in fine style:

The Illies comes through the Handicap-ranks and benefits from another fine ride from hugely talented apprentice William Buick seen here being interviewed by Tommo:

On to the Nunthorpe and never in a million years would we have touched eventual winner Kingsgait Native, the first two-year-old to beat his elders since Lyric Fantasy did so in 1992. Make no mistake, this might be a sprint-king in the making:

We close this chapter with a wonderful head-portrait of old favourite Welsh Emperor. Running another huge race when narrowly denied by Red Evie in Newbury only a couple of days earlier, he came to York to gain compensation, only to be ruled out hours before his start due to the ground conditions.