Andrew Asquith looks ahead to the action at York on Saturday and has two recommended bets.
Weekend View: Saturday June 14
1pt e.w. Our Havana in 1.50 York at 20/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4 - Coral, Ladbrokes, 16/1 general)
1pt e.w. Marchogion in 3.35 York at 12/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4 - William Hill, 888sport, 10/1 general)
A relatively low-key weekend coming up with Royal Ascot firmly on the horizon – I’ll be doing a Royal Ascot View which will be available on Sporting Life on Saturday – but there are still a couple of competitive handicaps at York which are of interest.
The ground at the time of writing at York is described as good to firm, good in places, and for all there is a chance of showers later in the week, temperatures are set to be warm. Hopefully we will be looking at a quick surface on Saturday, but predicting the weather forecast is definitely not my forte.
The opening Macmillan Handicap looks a typically competitive one for the track. For context, there is only 4lb separating 27 of the runners on provisional Timeform weight-adjusted ratings.
The market mirrors that to some extent, around 7/1 the field on Tuesday morning, but I’ve noticed a couple who could be much shorter in the betting come the weekend, primarily the Richard Fahey-trained OUR HAVANA.
He’s a standout 20/1 with a couple of bookmakers, but the general 16/1 looks fair, too, as I think he’s still a horse who is potentially ahead of his mark. Our Havana has a good strike rate in handicaps, winning four of his nine starts in this sphere, all of them over seven furlongs, and two of his defeats in that time came over a mile.
Whether he truly stays a mile I’m not so sure, but he looks an out-and-out seven furlong performer, as he has shown by winning three handicaps this year over an aggregate nine lengths.
The latest of those came at Musselburgh in April in what ittedly wasn’t the strongest race for the grade and he was able to take care of some very lenient handicapping in the style of a progressive horse.
Indeed, Our Havana was just 4lb higher in the weights than when winning a handicap by five and a half lengths at Southwell the previous month after the BHA made the decision to split his all-weather and turf rating, but he proved himself equally as effective on turf with a career-best effort.
He was given a forceful ride in the Spring Mile at Doncaster on his previous start, but was much happier reverted to more patient tactics, moving comfortably into contention approaching the two-furlong marker and finding plenty for pressure to be well on top at the line.
Our Havana wasn’t in the same form in the Thirsk Hunt Cup over a mile next time, but he travelled into the race as though still in top form, just unable to get involved in a race which was dominated by prominent horses, while also still allowing for the fact he isn’t at his best over a mile.
He has been given a nice break since, and Our Havana’s record shows he’s just the sort to quickly bounce back from a sub-standard effort. Furthermore, Fahey had two welcome, high-profile winners at Epsom last week, suggesting the yard is starting to kick back into form after a less-than-ideal start to the season. This can also be seen as a slight drop in class and a mark of 92 shouldn’t be beyond him when everything clicks.
Later on the card, the Macmillan Sprint Handicap for three-year-olds, has attracted a healthy number of entries, and will almost certainly be another highly-competitive renewal.
It has a long-established reputation of being one of the strongest three-year-old handicaps in the calendar and it is once again chock-full of potential improvers. Invictus Gold was beaten by Double Rush on his return before bolting up on his next start, easily dispatching of American Style. He’s in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, but isn’t guaranteed a run, so connections may decide to take their chance.
Double Rush also looks a very exciting prospect and a subsequent 5lb rise for his Newmarket success does look lenient now, but it is another improving handicapper at double his odds who makes more appeal to me at this stage.
The horse in question is MARCHOGION, who had some eye-catching form as a juvenile, and has progressed well this year. He was disappointing on his return and handicap debut at Newcastle, but easily landed the odds at Southwell on his next start at the end of January, and shaped much better than the bare result when third to So Darn Hot in a useful handicap at Lingfield.
That rival has boosted the form since, finishing behind Invictus Gold and American Style at Newmarket, before comfortably beating Strong Warrior at Windsor at the beginning of this month.
Marchogion wasn’t well drawn on All-Weather Finals Day at Newcastle after, but wasn’t beaten far, and duly proved himself a well-handicapped horse when beating American Style by a length in a Sunday Series handicap at Newmarket last month.
There was plenty to like about that performance, too, racing on the adjacent wing to American Style, and moving into contention with some style, one of the last to come off the bridle, and strong all the way to the line.
American Style is 5lb better off with Marchogion now, but whether that will be enough to reverse the form I’m not sure, given the ease of that success and his profile on the whole. That was just his third start on turf, the other two coming as a two-year-old when behind the likes of Matauri Bay, Nightwalker and King of Cities, all of whom have since graduated into pattern company.
He arrives totally unexposed on grass, will be suited by a likely strong gallop, and his strong-travelling style should lend itself well to a straight six furlongs at York. He's just the sort who will go on developing this season and will likely be a fixture in all the top sprint handicaps later in the year.
- Preview posted 1420 BST on 10/06/2025
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