David Ord paid a visit to Karl Burke’s yard ahead of the Dante Festival at York to get the lowdown on his ultra-strong string for 2025.<\/p>\n
ALMOSH’HER<\/a> – It wouldn’t surprise me if he runs very well in the first at York. He hasn’t been with us that long, he came up from Charlie Fellowes’ in really good shape and won two nice races on the all-weather over a distance possibly short of his optimum. He looks as though he’s got plenty of ability but he’s a little bit tricky in terms of temperament so I’m hoping York doesn’t find him out in that regard. Stepping up in trip will suit.<\/p>\n AL QAREEM<\/a> \u2013 He wears his heart on his sleeve and ran a fantastic race at Chester the other day. I\u2019m not sure 100% where he goes now as that was the plan but he\u2019ll be even better in the autumn. The long-term plan would almost certainly be the Irish St Leger.<\/p>\n ARABIE<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019s got an entry at Newbury this Saturday in a Listed race and he could go for that or we could look to wait for the Sandy Lane at Haydock.<\/p>\n BEAUTIFUL DIAMOND<\/a> \u2013 She ran on the fast ground at Newmarket at the Guineas meeting and came out of it a little bit jarred up. We\u2019re hoping to get her to the Temple Stakes but we\u2019re not sure yet.<\/p>\n CONVERGENT<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019s a lovely horse and ran a cracker in third behind Lambourn in the Chester Vase last week (replay below). He definitely won\u2019t run before Royal Ascot and could run in the King Edward VII Stakes there over a mile and a half. I think he\u2019s up to that class \u2013 it\u2019s a Group 2 \u2013 but he\u2019s a horse for the future and he might not run if the ground is too fast at Ascot.<\/p>\n ELITE STATUS<\/a> – I’ve always thought the world of him when we bought him as a yearling for Sheikh Obaid and he hasn’t disappointed but he hasn’t hit the heights that I think he can. He did a really nice piece of work on Friday so I’m really hopeful ahead of the Duke Of York this week as track and ground will suit him well.<\/p>\n FALLEN ANGEL<\/a> \u2013 She\u2019s been confirmed for the Lockinge on Saturday and from there hopefully she\u2019ll go on to Royal Ascot, probably for the Group 2 fillies and mares\u2019 race. She\u2019s a year older and a little bit lazier. Her work has been satisfactory rather than spectacular, then again she was never a spectacular work horse, she was a good work horse. She\u2019s gone a little bit idle on us but that\u2019s not a surprise and whatever she does on Saturday at Newbury she\u2019ll come on for the run.<\/p>\n FLIGHT PLAN<\/a> \u2013 We were delighted to win the Thirsk Hunt Cup. He won\u2019t go to Ascot I don\u2019t think, the Royal Hunt Cup on that straight track possibly doesn\u2019t play to his strengths. I think he likes a bend and he could easily go to America later in the summer.<\/p>\n ICE MAX<\/a> \u2013 Similarly, he likes a bend but he likes very soft ground and we\u2019re just waiting for some rain, as we are with a lot of horses.<\/p>\n KARMOLOGY<\/a> – She’s a talented filly who was a little bit unlucky not to win a Listed race on her reappearance at Nottingham. She’ll run in the Middleton this week and she should be there or thereabouts for a place. A good run expected but it’s a warm event. <\/p>\n KING OF LIGHT<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019s entered at York this week and will probably run in the three-year-old handicap there on Friday. If it\u2019s not looking like he\u2019ll get in that race then we could run in the Westow Stakes on Thursday but ideally we\u2019d like to run him in the handicap.<\/p>\n KORKER<\/a> – He’s another running at York and we’re taking 7lb off him. He ran on Sunday on the all-weather and didn’t get much of a run but he’s pulled out fine and we’ve decided to declare him. <\/p>\n LAST GALILEO<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019s another entered at York and could run in the mile and a half handicap. I think he\u2019s definitely well treated.<\/p>\n LETHAL LEVI<\/a> \u2013 I\u2019m kicking myself really for running him in the handicap at Newmarket the other week, giving lumps of weight away to improving young sprinters, I should probably have gone to Haydock with him for the seven-furlong Listed race. He\u2019s in a race in Ireland \u2013 a seven-furlong race at Leopardstown at the end of the month \u2013 and he could go there. He\u2019ll probably stick to Group 3 or Listed races for now but if we are to go back into a handicap it could be for something like the Ayr Gold Cup at the end of the season.<\/p>\n LIBERTY LANE<\/a> – He ran a cracker really in the Huxley Stakes at Chester. Ryan (Moore) ended up dropping him out the back which wasn\u2019t really the plan but he thought he might get stuck four-wide so it was either that or drop him in so he took the decision and he just got too far behind which you can\u2019t do at Chester. He flew home and proved that he stays a mile and a quarter in my mind so we\u2019ll be looking at 10 furlong races on decent ground, he wouldn\u2019t mind a bit of juice underfoot either.<\/p>\n MARSHMAN<\/a> – Marshman is a proper Listed\/Group 3 horse but we’ll run him in the Duke Of York too. There aren’t many runners and there’s good prize money so we’re keen to let him take his chance.<\/p>\n MISS LAMAI<\/a> – She’s in the Westow Stakes at York on Thursday and she’s talented. She was a Listed winner at two and came out of her run in France really well. She’s got a good each-way chance and is likely to head to Royal Ascot for the three-year-old sprint handicap.<\/p>\n NATIVE WARRIOR<\/a> \u2013 He will definitely go to the Royal Hunt Cup as long as the ground isn\u2019t rattling quick. We\u2019re just debating where his prep run will be, the weights for that handicap come out on May 22 I think so he\u2019s rated 92 at the moment and he might just scrape in there but if we run him before the weights come out and he doesn\u2019t win then we don\u2019t want him to drop down at all. So we might wait and if it looks like we need a penalty to get in then we could look to do that somewhere.<\/p>\n NIGHT RAIDER<\/a> – He’s a powerful animal and he’s been working well all winter. He’s the one who could be the ace in the pack and although he’s got to prove it on turf, he’s had an away-day gallop on the grass and galloped very well. I’m looking forward to seeing him run. I hate running good horses against each other (Elite Status and Marshman in Duke of York too) but needs must.<\/p>\n REBEL\u2019S GAMBLE<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019ll probably wait for Ascot although he could have a prep somewhere before then. If the ground came up soft then he could run in the Sandy Lane but he disappointed last time and I don\u2019t think the draw helped. He never got any cover and I hope the step up to seven will be the key to him.<\/p>\n ROYAL CHAMPION<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019s entered in the Tattersalls Gold Cup along with Royal Rhyme, the Group 1 at the end of the month, and he wants fast ground but Royal Rhyme wants slower ground. There are also the Group 1s at Royal Ascot and he could go there.<\/p>\n ROYAL RHYME<\/a> \u2013 As I say, they both want different ground so I think there might be a bit of rain expected in Ireland towards the end of the month so hopefully he could go there for the Group 1 over 10 furlongs.<\/p>\n SERVING WITH STYLE<\/a> – She put in a great performance in a Group 2 at Newmarket on her final start as a two-year-old. I had her down as a soft-ground filly, and she probably is, but I think I’ll run her at York this week as she’ll handle good ground. I’m not so sure whether she’s a miler or a 10-furlong horse but she shows plenty of speed and we’ll start her off in the Michael Seely and make a decision on where we go from there afterwards. <\/p>\n SPYCATCHER<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019s entered in Ireland and France and he\u2019ll go where the ground is suitable. To be at his best he wants a bit of cut so we\u2019ve a lot of horses waiting for that sort of ground.<\/p>\n THUNDER RUN<\/a> \u2013 He runs in the mile and a quarter race at York on Thursday and I\u2019m convinced he wants that step up in distance now. He does need to relax though, he doesn\u2019t want to be making the running over that trip, but if he relaxes in behind with some cover then I think he\u2019ll run a huge race and he could go onto the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot.<\/p>\n Selected two-year-olds<\/strong><\/p>\n ALASKAN LIGHT<\/a> – She ran well on her debut. She’s only a small filly and probably wants a bit of cut in the ground. We’ve left her in the Marygate at York on Friday but I’m not sure she’ll run there yet.<\/p>\n ALI SHUFFLE<\/a> \u2013 She was brilliant at Chester. She\u2019ll probably go for the Hilary Needler at Beverley as she has no penalty for that race in three weeks or so. It\u2019s a valuable race and a bonus race for her too so it\u2019s a lot of prize-money and she deserves to have a go.<\/p>\n BLUE TO BLUE<\/a> \u2013 He runs on Tuesday at Beverley. There are a couple of first-time-out horses in there and it could be trappy but he\u2019s definitely improved from his first run when winning at Southwell so we\u2019ll know more about how good he is after this.<\/p>\n CLEAR FORCE<\/a> \u2013 He\u2019s not very big but he\u2019s quick, he\u2019ll probably go for the National Stakes at Sandown.<\/p>\n JAN STEEN<\/a> \u2013 I was thinking about running him at York this week but I thought I wanted to run him over six furlongs really and the six-furlong race looks tough with a penalty. So I\u2019m going to try and pick something a little bit easier. He\u2019s a nice horse, I don\u2019t know how good he is really, but the next run will tell us whether he\u2019s good enough to go for the Coventry or whether we run him in the Windsor Castle Stakes back over five furlongs.<\/p>\n LOVE OLIVIA<\/a> – She’s in the Marygate this week and would be the obvious one, she looks a very sharp filly. She won very well on debut and has trained well since. <\/p>\n