David O'Meara: Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival hopes

David O’Meara led the standings at the end of the 2021 Sky Bet-backed Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival and spoke to Racing TV’s Chris Dixon ahead of a busy week in his adopted home county.

Discussing some of his likely runners during the early part of the Festival, O’Meara confirmed Head Chef, a winner at Ripon earlier in the season is likely to return to the Garden Racecourse on Saturday, saying “he ran well enough at Hamilton last time to suggest he can be competitive again and he acted well enough at Ripon on his first try there so he’ll go all being well”.

Other entries include previous course winner Cosmos Raj but a recent busy spell means his Upper Helmsley-based trainer may decide to give him more time before his next run though he will consider the race which would be a step back up in trip, something he’s keen to try with the 77-rated four-year-old.

Stromboli is another entered at Ripon but also has an option at Redcar on Sunday with running plans still up in the air, as they are with another weekend entry Azano who is one of four with the option of lining up in Sunday’s feature handicap.

“He’s not in the same sort of form as he was last year when he ran third in the Pomfret last year but the owners are keen to go back to Pontefract and have a crack at it,” O’Meara said. “He’s a horse that’s quite hard on himself, quite forward going and we’ll have a look at Redcar and Pontefract and though he could run in both I’d say Pontefract is favourite at the moment”.

Glory And Honour is expected to take his chance in the apprentice riders’ handicap in the hope of an improved display. O’Meara said: “He’s obviously moving up in trip and he’s a horse that we haven’t had for too long but he’s won a bumper and over hurdles so obviously stays quite well but he showed us a bit of speed at home so we did try him over shorter but this trip should be more to his liking”.

Other horses who could be seen in action in Yorkshire during the week include recent Beverley runner-up Bin Hayyan “he’s a horse we hold in quite high regard and he hasn’t reached anything like what we expected him to just yet but there’s a chance he’ll bounce back on quicker ground”.

As ever, O’Meara will be targeting York at the end of the week with the likes of Iur Cin Tra and Soul Seeker, who looks for a repeat win in the Jump Jockeys Nunthorpe on Saturday, both expected to be part of his Knavesmire assault on Friday and Saturday.

On Iur Cin Tra the trainer said: “He ran well at Pontefract recently, he did a lot of good work only to get caught late on by one of Nigel Tinkler’s and he seems in good form. The flat 5f at York should suit him.” With regard to Soul Seeker, he reported: “He had a great start to the year when he was only just narrowly touched off at Beverley but then the wheels fells off a little bit after that but his last run at Beverley suggested he was going to come back to some sort of form.” A tongue-tie is likely to be added for his repeat bid.

Looking further into the season, O’Meara suggests Sky Bet Ebor hope Get Shirty will head straight to that race following his win in the Old Newton Cup at Haydock, while Charging Thunder, another possible for the Ebor, could line up as soon as this weekend in a bid to nudge up the weights to secure a place in next month’s big handicap on the Knavesmire.

Saturday 16th July – Ripon

Saturday 16th July – Doncaster Evening

Sunday 17th July – Redcar

Monday 18th July – Beverley Evening

Wednesday 20th July – Catterick

Thursday 21st July – Doncaster Evening

Friday 22nd July – Thirsk

Friday 22nd July – York Evening

Saturday 23rd July – York

Sunday 24th July – Pontefract