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Crowded House and four seasons in one (Dante) day

By Angus | May 11, 2009

MIXED WEATHER is expected at York Races on Thursday, but punters can expect Crowded House to shine in the Dante Stakes.

Brian Meehan’s son of Rainbow Quest is unbeaten with Jamie Spencer on board – and the former Champion Jockey is booked to ride Crowded House in York’s key Derby trial.

Spencer is likely to try the colt’s fans’ patience by holding Crowded House up, as he tends to do – tactics he last used to spectacularly poor effect when he unsuccessfully partnered Meehan’s Delegator in the 2,000 Guineas – but Crowded House is head and shoulders above the rest of this year’s Dante field.

So don’t expect a Motivated- or Authorized-style romp on the Knavesmire on Thursday, but odds of 6/4 available at William Hill are well worth getting into early.

York may dodge a lot of the rain heading around the country this week, and while York Races’ May Festival could be hit by a few showers and some cloud, there will be enough sunny intervals to keep the track on the firm side of good.

Kite Wood, a Godolphin Galileo colt, may prefer things on the softer side and is best-priced at 6/1 for the race. And that’s the second favourite.

With the rest of the field easy to back at sevens or longer, it isn’t hard to predict that Crowded House could be odds-on by the morning of the race – so an ante-post bet could be the best value.

Looking further afield, the record of Dante winners in the Epsom Derby itself in recent years is such that we can expect the 6/1 currently quoted about Crowded House to win the Derby to be chopped severely if he wins on Thursday.

I’m probably going to make some small bets on Crowded House for the Derby before Thursday – SkyBet currently have the best price – but am taking Hills odds now for him to win the Dante.

Selection
12 points Crowded House (6/4, William Hill) to win the Dante Stakes

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