ICE IS NICE IN MUSIDORA

York's three day Dante Festival commences on Wednesday, which provides the last chance for trainers to run their Classic hopefuls one more time before Epsom arrives. To accompany these trials for the Oaks and the Derby, there are some competitive handicaps to wet the appetite too.

Wednesday's feature is the Musidora stakes, a race which has thrown up Oaks winners in the past like Sariska and Reams of Verse plus horses who have won this race and gone on to run respectably in the Epsom Classic, such as The Fugue and Liber Nauticus. The selection for this race probably wont be adding her name to that particular role of honour as connections have said that she is unlikely to go for the English Oaks. This horse is QUEEN OF ICE. A race that, in the past few years, has been won by a horse who has had two runs or less; she fits the bill there. The ground should hold her back in anyway as she won her maiden on a softer surface. The Kempton race she won last time out looked decent, beating a decent yardstick of Richard Hannon's in Midnite Angel. Her won was comfortable that day and a replication of that will see her go very close. A win in the this race could see her lined up for a tilt at the French Oaks. As for the opposition, Shama looks useful although she's not bred to appreciate cut and Cambridge has yet to prove that she's worthy of her lofty reputation. Madame Chiang could run a good race, but Queen Of Ice has a very big chance.

Queen Of Ice

The Duke Of York looks a nice renewal, with many horses having a chance. As the three main front-runners are all drawn fairly low, Astaire (2), Es Que Love (5) and Eton Rifles (6), it may be wise to look at the horses drawn low too. Also, a horse who has form on ground with a little cut in are likely to have more of a chance than those who don't. MAAREK must have a chance, based on his Group winning form previous and his recent second to smart prospect Guerre. He should be primed for this alongside HEERAAT, who will also have come on for this most recent run and will appreciate the step up in trip to six furlongs. He usually runs a solid race at York, which only enhances his claims.

Finally, the 2:15. In this race, in stark contrast to the last race, highly drawn horses need to be looked at. This is because a lot of the previous winners of this race have been drawn high. A horse who is in the form of his life (chasing a hat-trick) is FAST SHOT. If he continues to improve, he'll be there or thereabouts. Another horse with a big chance, unbeaten at York, is BLAINE. If he can find the form which saw him win his first two races, including the Group 2 Gimcrack, he is another who has a big chance. Richard Hughes as a jockey booking is interesting too. Biggest dangers are Royal Rascal, who also loves it on the Knavesmire and Aetna, who will relish the underfoot conditions.

Good luck to everybody

Happy Punting!