MIRANN and Derby hero Adam Kirby are the combination to follow in the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap (3.35) at York.
Johnny Murtagh originally booked Jamie Spencer for the five-year-old but, with the Irishman in action at Deauville this afternoon, Kirby is a more-than-able deputy.
Although Mirann is without a win in over a year, Motivator’s son has produced some sterling efforts in white-hot since handicaps scoring at Gowran Park in June of last year.
His CV includes in-the-frame efforts on his last three outings as Mirann followed a second at his local track, the Curragh, in May with a running-on fourth to Quickthorn in Royal Ascot ’s Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap 26 days later.
Another best-work-at-the-finish effort when fourth over an inadequate mile and a quarter at Leopardstown last month showed Mirann was crying out for this additional four furlongs.
He can prove the point by giving his trainer, successful with Mutual Regard in 2014, a second triumph in Britain’s richest handicap.
IMPERIAL SUN can put his rivals in the shade as he tackles a mile and three-quarters for the first time in the Sky Bet Melrose Handicap (2.25).
The Sea The Stars colt has been something of a slow burner for John and Thady Gosden, taking five attempts to get off the mark.
At the beginning of last month, my selection stepped up to a mile and a half for a similar event at Wolverhampton, and posted a personal best with a four-and-a-half-length supremacy from Thunder Ahead.
The way Imperial Sun moved through that race suggests he will prove a better horse than his current British Horseracing Authority mark of 87.
The Group 2 Sky Bet City Of York Stakes (3.00) is a good opportunity for Charlie Appleby’s SPACE BLUES to get back to winning form.
A run of four straight victories came to an end with a below-par effort at Riyadh in February before a fourth at Meydan five weeks later.
But a close fourth to Kinross - Space Blues was beaten two necks and a head - in the Group 2 Lennox Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last time was much more like it, and he holds a class edge over his eight opponents.
It’s hard to get away from REAL WORLD, trained by Appleby’s Godolphin colleague Saeed bin Suroor, in the Group 3 Sky Bet And Symphony Group Strensall Stakes (1.50).
At Sandown, INDIGO GIRL is worth another chance - despite a return-action-defeat last month - in the Group 3 Betway Atalanta Stakes (2.40).
The John and Thady Gosden-trained daughter of Dubawi took high rank among the juvenile fillies for 2020.
Off the course until last month, Frankie Dettori’s mount came home a below-par fourth to Dreamloper in the Group 3 Valiant Stakes at Ascot.
It’s likely the ground was quicker than ideal at the Queen’s racecourse, however, and this more forgiving surface will be more to my selection’s liking.
