IT used to be the case that Irish-trained horses struggled in the Sky Bet Ebor. When the Aidan O’Brien-trained Mediterranean won the Ebor in 2001, he was the first Irish-trained winner of the race in almost 30 years.

It was another eight years before the next, the Willie Mullins-trained Sesenta, but then they rolled along: Dirar, Mutual Regard, Heartbreak City and Mustajeer. Five of the last 12 Ebor winners were trained in Ireland.

Irish raiders

From a deep initial Irish entry, just four raiders make the trip for the 2021 renewal this afternoon, but you can make cases for all four.

Shanroe stayed on well to get the better of Pondus in the Sky Bet Race To The Ebor Handicap at the Curragh in June, and it looks like Karl Thornton has kept him fresh for today since then.

He is 7lb higher today than he was that day, and he is seven years old now, but he has raced just five times on the flat, and he has won three times, so it may well be that he will be able to cope with his new mark of 101.

We haven’t seen Mt Leinster since he won the Amateur Riders’ Derby at the Curragh last October. A bumper winner who beat Entoucas and Concertista when he won his maiden hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival in 2019 – when he had Shanroe well behind him – Willie Mullins’ horse has won three of his four races on the flat.

He beat last Monday’s impressive Roscommon winner Ciel D’Afrique in a qualified riders’ maiden at the 2020 Galway Festival, and he beat last year’s Irish Cesarewitch winner Cape Gentleman by five lengths at Listowel last September, when they had Wednesday’s impressive York handicap winner Arcadian Sunrise back in third.

The fact that we haven’t seen him since last October is not a negative, as he is a horse who goes well fresh. His record after a break of 50 days or more reads 12221 and, a 142-rated hurdler who has run just four times on the flat, he still has the potential to go beyond today’s flat mark of 105.

Murtagh entries

The two Johnny Murtagh representatives are also really interesting. Winner of the good 10-furlong handicap at the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend last year, Sonnyboyliston has continued to progress this season.

He wasn’t beaten far by Japan and Trueshan in the Ormonde Stakes at Chester in May and, after winning the Listed Martin Molony Stakes at Limerick in June, it is significant that Johnny Murtagh took him to York for the Group 3 Silver Cup, over the Ebor course and distance.

He was a bit keen behind a sedate early pace that day, which wouldn’t have suited, but he didn’t run badly in finishing sixth behind subsequent Geoffrey Freer Stakes winner Hukum. It is probable that the Ebor has been his target for a while, and he is the choice of Ben Coen.

Proposition

His stable companion Mirann may be a better betting proposition at a bigger price. OTI Racing’s horse has shaped like an Ebor prospect for a little while. A winner over a mile and a half for Alain de Royer-Dupré in France, he hasn’t won since he won on his first run for Johnny Murtagh at Gowran Park in June last year, but he has run some big races in defeat in the interim, without enjoying the best luck in-running on occasion.

He stayed on well to take fourth place in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot on his penultimate run, and he ran a big race over what was surely an inadequate 10 furlongs in a hot handicap that was won by Mosala at Leopardstown last time.

That should have sharpened him up nicely for today, and this 14-furlong trip could be his optimum.

Hamish is an intriguing runner, the 2019 Melrose winner who hasn’t run since he finished fourth in the Hardwicke Stakes last year, and Tribal Craft is a well-handicapped mare whose chance would be enhanced by a drop of rain, but Mirann could be the best bet.

Earlier in the day, Charging Thunder could go well in the afore-mentioned Melrose Handicap. A winner over 10 furlongs at Chepstow in June, David O’Meara’s horse put up a career-best performance last time when he stepped up to 12 furlongs and won a handicap at Pontefract off a mark of 75.

There was a lot to like about that performance. He travelled well behind a good pace that favourite Outback Boy set and, taken to the outside around the home turn, he hit the front at the two-furlong marker and he stayed on strongly up the hill.

The handicapper raised him by 7lb for that win to a mark of 82, but he is progressive and he raced that day as if he would appreciate a step up to today’s distance.

He is a half-brother to Prince Of Arran, who has won a Geelong Cup and who has finished placed twice in the Melbourne Cup, and to Makawee, a 101-rated mare who stays well and who goes well at York, and he could out-run decent odds.

Recommended

Charging Thunder, 1 pt e/w, 2.25 York, 20/1 (generally)

Mirann, 1pt e/w, 3.35 York, 9/1 (generally)