3 minute read

All eyes will be on Ascot and the King George this Saturday but the York Stakes is set to throw up an interesting contest as well.

Racing and Sports Priceline favours the three-year-old Elarqam who is out to bounce back from a flop in the Irish Guineas last time out.

Assessed Prices: Elarqam $2.80; Euginio $5.50; Smart Call $5.50; Forest Ranger.

The Priceline zones in on four key chances with Elarqam the stand-out ahead of three evenly matched older horses.

Elarqam disappointed in the Irish Guineas, and the English Guineas has taken a few knocks in recent times, but any way you view it his return run there was a positive one and this Group 2 contest may not take a great deal more winning.

That was just his third start and he had shown himself a smart prospect when winning a Newmarket Group 3 at his second start last season. That looked a warm piece of form at the time and can still be viewed that way.

Smart Call is a former South African mare who won nicely enough last time but that was a steadily run race against much softer opposition. While it was a win it was no better than what she had been producing against better opposition on the clock.

The clock speaks more positively about the chances of Euginio and he represents good betting value in early markets.

His Wolferton second came in really good overall time and his latest can be easily excuses as the pace simply wasn't there for him and he was not the only one unable to run their race in a tactical affair at Sandown.

The Racing and Sports Priceline gives him a good hope off his Ascot run.

Forgiveness is also perhaps required with Forest Ranger who couldn't beat one home in the Eclipse last time. He's obviously better than that as his two wins to start the 2018 campaign show.