Globeform York Previews

GLOBEFORM YORK PREVIEWS

AUGUST 18, 2010

Thursday -- Lowther/Darley Yorkshire Oaks

by Geir Stabell

Race 2 -- Lowther S. (Eng-G2), 2YO fillies, six furlongs

MAQAASID (Green Desert) will have to concede three pounds to all of her rivals in this important

six-furlong contest, but the John Gosden-trained filly is still an obvious choice.

After having overcome a seemingly impossible position to win on her prep race

for Royal Ascot, she justified favoritism to beat the smart Irish filly Meow

(Storm Cat) by

a neck in the Queen Mary S. (Eng-G2). That contest is over five furlongs and this

step up to six will be to Maqaasid's liking. She is a daughter of Green Desert,

out of the Storm Cat mare Eshaadeh, who is closely related to last year's One

Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) winner Ghanaati (Giant's Causeway). This is the excellent family of champions Nashwan,

Nayef and Unfuwain. If she wins again this week, Maqaasid will move further up

the list of contenders for next year's One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket. I, for

one, cannot understand why she is a big as 20-1 in the future books for that

classic.

MARGOT DID (Exceed and Excel), who comes off game runner-up finishes to the top

juvenile filly Memory (Danehill Dancer) in the Albany S. (Eng-G2) at Royal Ascot in June and the very smart Soraaya

(Elnadim) in the Princess Margaret S. (Eng-G3) at the same course

four weeks ago, will also be popular in the betting. Beaten only a head and a half-length,

respectively, in those contests, she has developed solid and high class form already.

Margot Did broke her maiden at Yarmouth and there is no reason to believe she

will be unsuited by York. She is once more set to be ridden by leading female

jockey Hayley Turner, a girl who is every bit as good as Julie Krone was in her

heyday.

HOORAY (Invincible Spirit), trained by Sir Mark Prescott, is an intriguing contender

-- having

flopped in listed company at Newbury only six days ago. A keen, strong-running

filly, she missed the break there when tried over five furlongs in the St. Hugh's

S. and could never get into the contest. Heavily backed just before the break, she

came home sixth, almost eight lengths behind Electric Waves (Exceed and Excel). Hooray ran

much better over six furlongs at Newmarket on her previous start, when taking

third in the prestigious Cherry Hinton S. (Eng-G2) over six furlongs. After being

restrained in last place early on, pulling ferociously, she finished strongly

and passed the post 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner Memory, who is thus far the

top name in this division. That Prescott, normally not a busy man with

juveniles, wheels Hooray back so quickly, makes me interested. I am sure that

the day this filly learns to relax, she will win a big one. She should not be

underestimated.

GLOBEFORM SELECTIONS:		A: 1 MAQAASID
		B: 5 MARGOT DID
		C: 2 HOORAY

RECOMMENDED BETS:		WIN: 1 Maqaasid
		4 EXACTAS
		A: 1 Maqaasid with 5 Margot Did
		B: 1 Maqaasid with 2 Hooray
		C: 5 Margot Did with 1 Maqaasid
		D: 2 Hooray with 1 Maqaasid
		6 TRIFECTAS
		A: 1 with 2,5 with 2,5
		B: 2,5 with 1 with 2,5
		D: 2,5 with 2,5 with 1

Race 4 -- Darley Yorkshire Oaks (Eng-G1), 3YO/UP, 1 1/2 miles

SARISKA (Pivotal), arguably the best three-year-old filly in England last year, was second in this

event 12 months ago, when beaten by Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel [Ire]). It was an upset at the time

but Sariska was found to be in season on the day, and subsequent results have

shown that Dar Re Mi is also a top-notch performer -- she went on to beat the

boys in the Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) in Dubai. Sariska has won twice here at

York, taking the Musidora S. (Eng-G2) last year and the Middleton S. (Eng-G2)

this spring, when she came home a comfortable 1 3/4-length winner from Midday

(GB) (Oasis Dream ]GB]) -- 

last year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) heroine. Midday was conceding

five pounds that day, but Sariska was by far the best and would probably have won also on

level terms. She went on to contest the Coronation Cup (Eng-G1) over 1 1/2 miles at

Epsom in June, trying to win there again a year after having taken the 2009

Epsom Oaks (Eng-G1) by a head from Midday. Sariska looked extremely well at Epsom,

in appearance she is now more like a colt, and she put up another smashing

performance, albeit in defeat. Fame and Glory (Montjeu [Ire]), coming off an impressive

Group 1 win

in Ireland, proved 1 1/2 lengths too strong for her but Sariska loomed up strongly

in midstretch and made the Irish champion pull out all the stops. The good to

firm ground worked in Fame and Glory's favor and if these two ever meet on soft

turf, I would not at all be surprised to see Sariska gaining revenge. It may

happen in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) in Paris in October. I quite

fancy Sariska as a value future wager for the Arc so how can I go against her

this week? I can't. She looks the bet of the week to me, even coming up against

Midday and the smart three-year-old filly Snow Fairy (Intikhab).

SNOW FAIRY, like Sariska a winner of both the Epsom Oaks and the Irish Oaks

(Ire-G1), meets older rivals for the first time. She made up a lot of ground from

off the pace to win at Epsom, and was visually even more impressive when running

right away with the Irish equivalent just over a month ago. The sophomore

fillies division is not particularly strong in England this year though, and

perhaps Snow Fairy looked a bit better than she actually is on both occasions.

Then again, trainer Ed Dunlop (who handled the mighty Ouija Board [GB]) persuaded her

owner to supplement the filly for both these classics, and obviously Snow Fairy

is held in high regard. She is also a possible candidate for the St. Leger (Eng-G1)

and/or the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. As she will stay in training

next year, it is my guess that she will not be given more than two more runs

this year. Her regular partner Ryan Moore is out with a wrist injury, and

in-form rider Richard Hughes takes over. His style of riding will suit this

filly well.

MIDDAY is of course the third name for our economic trifecta plan in the

Yorkshire Oaks. She is every bit as good as last year, when she slammed some of

the best turf fillies in the United States at Santa Anita, and now coming off a smooth win

in the Nassau S. (Eng-G1) at Glorious Goodwood -- a race she won also last year.

She is again being aimed the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. If Sariska

goes to the Breeders' Cup, which is quite likely, it is my guess that she will

run in the Turf, rather than the Filly & Mare Turf.

GLOBEFORM SELECTIONS:		A: 4 SARISKA
		B: 3 MIDDAY, 8 SNOW FAIRY

RECOMMENDED BETS:		WIN: 4 Sariska -- week's best bet
		2 EXACTAS
		4 Sariska with 3 Midday, 8 Snow Fairy
		2 TRIFECTAS
		4 with 3, 8 with 3, 8