Timeform Notebook: Focus on York Ebor meeting

Many horses caught the eye at the 2012 York Ebor meeting

As you might expect, a plethora of interesting horses were on show at the York Ebor meeting and narrowing down our shortlist to the three most promising types was not an easy task...

We didn't have to wait long for our first eye-catcher, as the well-backed Rex Imperator finished with plenty seemingly still left in the tank, unfortunately for favourite backers though he was out of the frame having been denied a run at a crucial stage of the race. Understandably, Rex Imperator was given an easy time of things once it became apparent he had no conceivable chance of clawing back the leaders and he is definitely a horse to be interested in on his next handicap start, be it over five furlongs, an easy six, or, most likely, in the Portland over five and a half furlongs at Doncaster on St Leger day.

The Convivial Maiden Stakes, run on the Friday at York, invariably proves to be a good contest, with plenty of future winners progressing from the race. This year's renewal looked like a typically strong affair and it could be worth paying close attention to fourth-placed Market Town on his next start. Entered in three Group 1 races later in the year, Market Town produced a promising first effort against rivals who had already achieved a fair level of form. Slowly away, Market Town was held up in the early stages before making steady headway a couple of furlongs from home. The effort soon flattened out and he couldn't live with a trio of rivals with experience, but there was certainly enough promise in the run to suggest that he is more than capable of winning an ordinary maiden next time before competing at a higher level.

The following nursery also provided an eye-catcher and one worth following in similar company. Majestic Moon, making only his third racecourse appearance, was slowly away having reared as they left the stalls, but he finished in the style of a horse with significantly more to give, running on strongly to grab fourth place. With the benefit of this experience in a highly-competitive nursery under his belt, Majestic Moon should be capable of producing a more polished effort next time, which should enable him to go extremely close to winning off a similar mark. Interestingly, the stable managed to guide half-brother Majestic Myles to listed race glory, having also come through the nursery ranks, and it is worth keeping a close eye on how Richard Fahey's colt progresses.

Runners Debrief

It was a rather anti-climactic weekend for our legions of Notebook followers, as Golden Causeway, who was well supported to make amends for her luckless defeat on debut, ran as if something was amiss at Newmarket, finishing a distant last after being virtually pulled up. Having looked so promising on debut, we cannot simply write her off completely on the back of one poor run, particularly as this one looked too bad to be true. However, it would take braver men than us to steam into the betting ring on the back of that effort and a watching brief is probably the best course of action when she reappears.

Gospel Choir was declared a non-runner for the Melrose, which was particularly disappointing as Sir Michael Stoute's progressive three-year-old would have been ideally suited to the one-and-three-quarter-mile trip allied with the searching gallop which prevailed. It will be interesting to see where Gospel Choir next appears, with a foray into listed or even Group company not beyond the realms of possibility.

Zumbi, running in the Group 3 Supreme Stakes, produced an effort fairly similar in style to the one which saw him merit inclusion to our Notebook. He once again shaped better than the bare result, having been checked in his run just as he was starting to look threatening. The manner in which he finished once the gap did arrive, albeit all too late, suggested that he is certainly one to be interested in next time, particularly as he remains open to further improvement having only had the five starts so far.

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