talkSPORT tips – Best bets and expert advice on Ebor Festival Day 3

The Ebor Festival is always one of the highlights of the summer and it continues with Day 3’s card on Friday.

Our main event is one for the speedsters as the fast and furious Nunthorpe Stakes is a Group 1 over the minimum trip, which surely isn’t to be missed.

King Charles III Stakes winner Mission Central takes on US raider and fellow Royal Ascot winner Bacio in the big one, while the supporting card features a couple of Group 2s.

There will be plenty of opportunities to find a winner or two and our expert has selected three strong fancies to follow at York on Friday. Among them is a Wesley Ward-trained runner who looks more than ready for the step up in grade and victory could be on the cards.

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York Ebor Festival day 3 tips

• 2.25 York – Caballo De Mar @ 2/1 
• 3.00 York – Adaay Of Scarlett @ 4/1  
• 3.35 York – Bacio @ 9/2    

2.25 York – Caballo De Mar @ 2/1

This probably isn’t the strongest renewal of the Lonsdale Cup, as Gold Cup winner Scandinavia is absent and last year’s winner Trawlerman has been retired. That provides an opportunity for George Scott’s CABALLO DE MAR, who brings Group 1 form to the table.

He climbed rapidly through the ranks last term and announced himself as a stayer to watch when landing the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp on Arc weekend, while he only half-a-length behind the winner when second in the Dubai Gold Cup on seasonal debut.

Scott’s gelding earned a second Group 1 victory when landing the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier at Longchamp in May and that form suggests he has every chance now. Things didn’t go to plan in the Gold Cup but he’s better than that and this race looks a whole lot easier.

3.00 York – Adaay Of Scarlett @ 4/1

The tough and consistent ADAAY OF SCARLETT deserves to get his head in front at this level and probably won’t get a better opportunity to do so. This son of Mehmas absolutely bolted up when making his debut in a Newmarket maiden back in April.

Scoring by four-and-a-half lengths on that occasion, he then followed up in a Royal Ascot trial at Ascot in May. It’s therefore no surprise that he acquitted himself well at the royal meeting and only Aidan O’Brien’s Great Barrier Reef was too good in the Coventry Stakes.

Hugo Palmer’s precocious colt has since gone on to finish second in both the July Stakes at Newmarket and the Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. Those efforts probably make him the one to beat here, so don’t rule out a big run from him.

3.35 York – Bacio @ 9/2

Wesley Ward’s Acapulco was denied in the dying strides in the Nunthorpe back in 2017 and he sends over the very promising BACIO for this year’s renewal. He remains very lightly raced, which means there is scope for further improvement from the three-year-old.

The son of Maclean’s Music has won four of his five starts so far and was narrowly denied in a Listed contest in his sole defeat. There are clear signs that he is progressing into a very smart sprinter and this looks like a good opportunity to establish himself in the division.

Connections made the interesting decision to run him in a handicap at Royal Ascot and the British handicapper was miles away when allotting him a mark of 100. Bacio destroyed a competitive field that day and he looks fully capable of competing at Group 1 level.

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