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In what promises to be the most competition edition of great race, RAHEEN HOUSE appears to have just about everything in his favour to win the Sky Bet Ebor for Yorkshire-born trainer William Haggas.
The Ebor has eluded the now Newmarket-based Haggas to this point and he’s not had a single runner in the famous mile and three-quarter handicap since Arabian Comet’s mid-field finish behind Litigant in 2015.
However, during the last off-season he was sent a made-to-measure Ebor candidate in Raheen House, and it’s become increasingly obvious that his whole campaign has been geared around the end of August on the Knavesmire.
A winner on his previous visit to York when landing a juvenile maiden in October 2016, the five-year-old has had just two starts under Haggas' name, both over the Ebor course and distance, and on each occasion the horse has shown that he retains every ounce of ability.
There was definitely a question mark over him coming into the year – he'd gone five starts without a win for Brian Meehan, lost his form through 2018 and been gelded at the end of last year.
But Haggas has evidently rejuvenated the son of Sea The Stars, who was fourth in the Group One Racing Post Trophy on his final start at two and has the distinction of being one of only two horses to have ever finished in front of Enable.
That came on his three-year-old debut when runner-up to Shutter Speed at Newbury but his very best efforts came later that year, including a fourth to Permian in the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot, a Group Three victory in the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket, and Listed defeat of Weekender back at Ascot.
Two of those three career-best efforts came around the mile and three-quarter mark so when it comes to his Ebor credentials he’s a horse who loves the trip, has tons of back-class, and is proven at the course.
This season’s efforts have been of a high calibre, too, a second to Gold Mount in mid-June followed by a neck third to Red Verdon – where he closed the gap from two and a quarter lengths to a neck on runner-up Gold Mount – in mid-July.
He was held up and ghosted into the race on both occasions, Jamie Spencer arguably overdoing the waiting tactics early on last time although it was by no means a bad ride. In truth it was the perfect prep for this horse’s major end-of-summer target and, while there may be no prizes for originality, at 14/1 (Ladbrokes, Coral) he's the one to be backing at this stage.