The "Majestic" Ebor

It's Sky Bet Ebor day, and it seems Hipop De Loire has been prepping for this since crossing the line with petrol left in the tank back in fifth 12 months ago.

Nothing about last month’s maiden hurdle stroll at Galway suggests the eight-year-old has regressed – far from it in fact – and, other than the short price, there’s very little not to like about Willie Mullins’ main hope.

Having said that, I do prefer French Master among the market leaders as he looked a Group 1 animal at Royal Ascot, and I can excuse the Goodwood Cup effort now back into a handicap with a first-time visor applied.

Price and value are king in a race as competitive as this, though, and it’s not like we’re short of potential improvers elsewhere. Almosh’her – another for Wathnan - has won three of his five starts and looks a fascinating contender for Karl Burke, while Aidan O’Brien’s London City is a lightly-raced Justify colt who comes here after an eye-catching run behind Al Riffa at the Curragh. Ryan Moore opting for Queenstown instead has inevitably resulted in their prices converging and if London City drifts much more, I could definitely be tempted to back him.

However, the least exposed horse in the field is MAJESTIC WARRIOR and, having thrashed a decent yardstick in Knightswood (dual winner since) on his sole start this season at Thirsk in April, I’d have him much closer to the head of the betting for this as he looks a perfect fit for the modern-day Ebor. If he happened to be trained by Haggas, would he arguably be second-favourite?

The handicapper has inevitably dealt quite a heavy blow for the easy win up the A19, raising James Tate’s chestnut 9lb, but he’d looked a potential stakes horse when beating Intricacy by five lengths off level weights at Wolverhampton in the spring of 2023.

The subsequent 698-day layoff must have felt like an exceptionally long time for Majestic Warrior’s connections, especially while having to watch Intricacy go on to win handicaps at Ascot and Meydan, but the patience has been rewarded based on his comeback performance, and he just looks so much more than a 98-rated handicapper.

A wide draw and relative lack of experience are the two things you’d point at if looking to pick holes in the horse, but I think there’s more than enough beef in the price to justify an each-way bet as Majestic Warrior bids to follow in the footsteps of his 2020 Ebor-winning half-brother, Fujaira Prince. At 11/1 and paying 6 places, this looks an exceptional EW bet with Betway