The latest running of the famed Ebor Handicap takes place at York this Saturday. Once again, we’ll have a full and competitive field for this spectacular one-mile, six-furlong heritage handicap and it’s one of the betting races of the season.
There’s certainly plenty of reliable form for us to inspect and analyse. The Ebor is only for those aged four and over, while the Melrose is run earlier in the day which is a sort of Ebor for the three-year-olds and a great pointer for next year.
Our off time for this race is 3.35, one for which there is £500,000 in prize money put up with £300k of that going the way of the winner. That sum is up there with a number of Group 1’s in this country and any major jumps race, which is why the National Hunt trainers are once again out in force attempting to win the event.
We’re hoping the entire market stays wide open after declaration time on Thursday morning, but in any case, what we want is a value each-way bet or two using extra each-way places.
The Lack of Value and Who to Avoid
A number of the so-called fancied horses do indeed stand up to scrutiny. Fairbanks (Andrew Balding) is an experienced yet improving four-year-old. He won a heritage handicap in good style at Newmarket’s July meeting and was just held last time at Glorious Goodwood.
Naqeeb represents a trainer in William Haggas who loves winners at York, then don’t they all? He too is improving and will not be left wanting for stamina at the business end of the race. Epic Poet (David O’Meara) also shows up well but at 10/1 these types don’t offer us the value we’re looking for.
There are even some near the top of the market who make no appeal at all from a betting point of view.
Queenstown is a very short price, mostly due to representing Aidan O’Brien. Henry de Bromhead’s Magical Zoe may not be the best handicapped, while Hipop De Loire and Harbour Wind can’t be ruled out for Willie Mullins and Dermot Weld respectively though for some reason the Irish-trained runners are too short.
It seems the bookies are pricing this up in very much the same way they would a National Hunt race at the Cheltenham Festival. The each-way value most definitely lies elsewhere.
20/1, 25/1 and 50/1 Each-Way Beauties
Chillingham is a little more tempting for Ed Bethell’s yard. Solid throughout last season, he started off OK in April before an improved display at Ripon. He went forward again when placed behind Crystal Delight last time at this course and it is indeed Harry Eustace’s runner who is terrific value.
Crystal Delight was well beaten in a Newmarket Listed race last time out and that seems to have kept the punters at bay. He is a round 20/1 now but shouldn’t be even close to that price in truth.
The five-year-old landed a handicap at Epsom in April by some 5½ lengths and was hit with a 9lb rise in the weights. That didn’t stop him, as he romped away with a York handicap in May by another 4¾ lengths and at the time, looked unstoppable.
He’s on a mark of 105 now, but that underestimates him. He looks to have a wonderful chance and is a terrific each-way price.
Both Crystal Delight and Shadow Dance (Roger Varian) are great value for a big run, the latter another improver who is somewhat overlooked here and who can improve his trainer’s fortunes after some high-profile exits from his yard. One more that can go well however is Sheradann for the Ian Williams yard.
At the time of writing, he is available at an incredible 50/1 but look closer. He’s put in two very underwhelming runs out of three this season, hence the price, but not everything is as it seems.
Both of those bad runs were at Ascot and it could be that he hates the track. Sandwiched in between was a seventh-placed finish at Glorious Goodwood and that’s a key piece of form.
Seventh of 13 never looks outstanding, but he was beaten only 2¼ lengths behind Align The Stars there at 100/1, a horse really going places, with Fairbanks only two lengths up ahead of him.
Sheradann didn’t even get a clear run that day and could have been much closer, while his form figures from France before joining Ian Williams read 56111. He is improving overall and could prove to be pretty well handicapped for this race.
Go For Extra Places
The idea here then is to take up your chosen bookie’s offer of extra each-way places. Four places is standard for this race, many bookies in fact will automatically offer five in such a big race.
Most of the major firms however offer you a slightly shorter price to go for even more places. You can go for six, seven or even eight places if you choose.
Look for the best extra places each-way deals on:
- Shadow Dance (16/1)
- Crystal Delight (20/1)
- Sheradann (50/1)