Coral Sprint Trophy at York Racing Tips

The Coral Sprint Trophy at York on Saturday is an extremely competitive event and it's very difficult to be dogmatic about the outcome - a lot of these sprint handicappers seam to win in turn and, therefore, a slice of luck is always needed. Hogmaneigh, arguably an unlucky loser in the race won by Fantasy Believer over the minimum trip here on his penultimate start, was ultimately disappointing when sent off the 9/2 favourite for the Ayr Gold Cup, only managing to finish thirteenth of the 23 runners. Stuart Williams' charge looks set to go off favourite for this contest also, but the stats are weighed heavily against the three-year-old, as Bollin Joanne, who was sent off the 6/1 joint favourite in 1996, is the last jolly to have obliged in this six-furlong cavalry charge. Furthermore, while Hogmaneigh possesses by far the most scope for improvement of this 20-strong field, he's the type of horse that needs a lot of luck in running and generally need things to drop just right. Personally, I'm inclined to look for something more solid. Next best in the market is Knot In Wood, who has made up into a smart performer at around this level during the current campaign, and he failed by a whisker to nail Stanley Goodspeed in a thrilling finish at Haydock last time with Rising Shadow under two lengths adrift in fourth. The son of Shinko Forest is now 7lb higher in the ratings than for his last win, which was over this course and distance on August 22. However, he will relish the ease in the ground on the Knavesmire on Saturday and ought to go well. But the one that interests me most is the Kevin Ryan-trained Coleorton Dancer, who finished strongly to be a close-up fourth to Fonthill Road in the Ayr Gold Cup, shaping as though he was recapturing his best, and bet365's offer of 9/1 about the four-year-old looks pretty good to me. Coleorton Dancer will relish the prevailing soft ground and, with Andrew Mullen claiming a valuable 3lb, he is one of only a handful of horses in this race that appear as though they are not weighed up to their best at present. The selection came from a long way back in the Ayr Cup so deserves a good deal of credit for finishing as close as he did. Seven of today's rivals behind Coleorton Dancer at Ayr, and there's no reason to suspect that any of the horses in question should turn the tables this time. River Falcon is another mudlark with a good turn of foot. He could easily get involved, although he does look vulnerable, while Knot In Wood's stablemate Wyatt Earp appears to be in the handicapper's grip now, plus he seems more effective on top of the ground nowadays. Rising Shadow has the ability to take this, but he is notoriously hard to win with and, owing to his consistent efforts in defeat, he rarely enjoys respite from the assessor and chances are he is another that might find a few too good. Verdict - 1pt win Coleorton Dancer @ 9/1 (bet365)