Denton Hall News

Dods hoping for good run as Que Amoro takes on the boys

TRAINER Michael Dods hopes Que Amoro can step up to the challenge of 'taking on the boys' at York this afernoon.

The star filly posted a fast time when winning a fillies' only listed race at Ayr on her seasonal reappearance and now faces high class geldings including Equilateral, El Astronaute, and Nunthorpe winner Alpha Delphini in the competitive John Smith's City Walls Stakes.

Here are.Michael's thoughts on the weekend's runners, taken from his regular preview on his Facebook page:

"We’ve got two runners on Saturday afternoon – and they’re both in very competitive races.

QUE AMORO runs in the John Smith’s City Walls Stakes at York (3.05). She won very well at Ayr last time out, but it’s going to be more competitive this time as that was a fillies only Listed race. She’s running against the boys here, and it looks a very competitive race on paper. It looks like there’ll be plenty of pace over the five furlongs, but hopefully she’ll run well.

DAKOTA GOLD is heading down to Newbury for the bet365 Hackwood Stakes (4.00). He really prefers a bit of juice in the ground, but if it’s just going to be good ground, he’s better off running over six furlongs. Five furlongs is ideal for him if there’s a bit of cut in the ground, but when it’s good, six furlongs suits him better, and they’re saying its going to be good ground for this. It’s a Group race and it looks extremely competitive, but we’ve got to keep trying him in these races. One day, he’ll get his conditions at this level and things will fall in his favour and he’ll have a chance.

We’ve got three runners on Sunday, the first of which is POSITIVE MENTALITY in the follow@willhillracing on Twitter Novice Auction Stakes at York (1.20). She’s a nice type of filly, although she’ll probably want seven furlongs or even a mile eventually. It’s a starting point for her over six furlongs, and I’m sure she’ll make a nice horse over time. There’s a bit of stamina in her pedigree though, and I can see her stepping up in trip after this.

Staying at York, QUEENS GIFT runs in William Hill Summer Fillies’ Stakes (3.05). It’s a Group race, and the big thing with a filly like Queens Gift is trying to get some black type because eventually she’ll be going to stud. It looks an extremely competitive race for the grade – in fact, it’s much more competitive than we were probably expecting, certainly in terms of numbers. I think the step up to six furlongs will suit her, but it looks a very hot race.

Our last runner of the weekend is GET KNOTTED in the William Hill Lengthen #yourodds Handicap (4.10). He loves it at York, and we pulled him out when he was due to run at Haydock last time because he wouldn’t have appreciated the bottomless ground. He loves the track, but unfortunately we’ve ended up in stall 18 out of 20. That’s not ideal at York because you really want to be drawn low or at least in the middle. He’s going to have his work cut out from out there, and on his seasonal reappearance, it might be too much for him. That said, though, I’m sure he’ll run his race."