Dakota can strike York Gold again

DAKOTA GOLD looked right back to his best last week at York and can extend his brilliant record on the Knavesmire by winning the Sky Bet Sunday Series Sprint Handicap.

The Michael Dods-trained eightyear-old currently shares the record for most wins at the track with Copper Knight and Stradivarius, but he can claim the title for himself by following up his impressive display at the Dante meeting.

While in the past he has been effective over both five and six furlongs, now he is getting on in years he seems more effective over the longer trip.

What his last win did prove, though, was that he is no longer as ground dependent as he once was as the going was pretty quick 11 days ago.

He has been put up 4lb to a mark of 102, but he was competitive off higher than that at the end of last season and obviously arrives in great form.

It could be a good afternoon for Dods as his Azure Blue looks to start life as a three-year-old off a lenient rating in the Sky Bet Sunday Series Dash Handicap.

She had shown up well in three maidens in the second half of last summer before opening her account on the all-weather at Newcastle in November.

That little break to strengthen up obviously did her the world of good and the handicapper gave her a mark of 78.

Dods knows the time of day, especially when it comes to sprinters, and he would not be pitching her into a race as competitive as this if he did not think she was capable of being involved.

You would have made a tasty profit backing Amo Racing’s twoyear-olds this season and their colours could be carried to success again by Walbank in the Sky Bet Sunday Series EBF Novice Stakes.

This son of Kodiac was not cheap at 525,000 guineas, especially considering he is the first foal for the dam, No Lippy, but she was a precocious type herself.

Second on debut at Ascot, the winner that day, Charlie Appleby’s Noble Style, is already one of the favourites for the Royal Ascot juvenile contests so the experience Walbank gained against him should stand him in very good stead.

Trainer David Loughnane has a smart bunch of juveniles again and do not be surprised should this one prove to be among the best.