William Hill Trophy - bet on Tax Free!

The ‘Sprint King’ Dandy Nicholls last tasted success in the valuable William Hill Trophy at York when Pepperdine obliged in 1999 and I’m as confident as can be that Tax Free will provide him with his second victory in the six-furlong dash on Saturday.

Unraced as a juvenile, Tax Free has quickly made up for lost time this season, winning three of his four starts, and was beaten by the mile trip as much as anything else on his sole defeat when third in the race won by Tsaroxy at Thirsk in May.

He stays seven furlongs with no trouble at all – two of his three wins have been gained over that trip – but it was over six furlongs that he produced his best performance to date at Newmarket’s July meeting last time out.

In what was a fiercely competitive contest, Tax Free stood out as a potential pattern-race performer. The son of Tagula took the race by the scruff of the neck two furlongs out and ran on strongly to beat Woodcote by a length and a quarter, with a whole host of smart sorts behind.

The sharp track at York will suit and Tax Free is an uncomplicated type who acts on any going and, despite being raised 7lb for his latest win, could still be well handicapped off a mark of 91. As such, the 9-2 available with Blue Square and Bet Direct should be duly lapped up.

The main dangers to the selection may come in the shape of a similarly progressive sorts, Banjo Patterson and Gimasha.

The latter quickened into a clear lead two furlongs out at Windsor last time and just had enough up her sleeve to repel the challenge of Marching Song, eventually prevailing by a short head with Intrepid Jack over two lengths adrift in fourth.

Marching Song and Intrepid Jack will be 1lb and 6lb better of respectively with Gimasha on Saturday and it should be close between the three. Personally, though, I’d predict Gimasha to come out on top again with the nature of the track likely to play to her strengths. But she has looked at her best on top of the ground, so, if as expected, the going is good at the weekend, the Cadeaux Genereux filly may be vulnerable to the likes of Tax Free in the closing stages.

Banjo Patterson is highly rated by trainer Geoff Huffer. The son of Green Desert was pushed out to beat subsequent winners Idle Power and Will He Wish at Yarmouth last time and, although he was receiving a fair amount of weight from those rivals, it was an excellent performance for a horse having just his fourth career start to beat older and more experienced, battle-hardened rivals. However, I reckon that Tax Free will have too much pace for him on this sharp track.

Danzili Bay was far from disgraced when two and a half lengths fourth to La Cucaracha in the Skybet Dash over course and distance last time and that form was boosted in no uncertain terms when the winner went on to land the Nunthorpe Stakes next time.

On the downside, however, Peter Chapple-Hyam’s charge will need to have improved a fair bit to win this off a mark 7lb higher than when landing a far less competitive event at Haydock on his penultimate start.

Betting verdict: 2pt win Tax Free @ 9/2 ( blue square)