Friday, 20 July 2012: And it starts with a bang with two very competitive G3 races - the James Marvin over 1400 and the Schuylerville over 1200.
The Schuylerville is for 2yo fillies so not surprisingly it's a very open race. Sweet Shirley Mae is top in the Morning Line at 7/2, with Can't Explain (great name) on 5/1 and Brown Eyes Blue on 6/1.
On Saturday the feature is the Coaching Club American Oaks for 3yo fillies over 2000m with a field of 6. Zo Impressive has a nice recent win to her name and is on 2/1, but In Lingerie, trained by Todd Pletcher, also has strong cliams here and is on 5/2.
At Del Mar the Oceanside winners My Best Brother and Midnight Crooner will be going on to the Del Mar Derby with a possibility of running in the La Jolla. It was a nice start for the girls when Miss California ridden by Chantal Sutherland and trained by Kristen Mulhall' align="right">
Saturday they stage the Eddie Read G1 over 1800m turf for the 3yos. Only 5 run but it could still be a great contest between Slim Shadely and Casino Host.
Colonial Downs stages the Virginio Oaks and the Virginia Derby. The Oaks is over 1800m adn has Zultanite on 6/5, Volcat 5/2 and Filare l'Oro 9/2. The Derby has the Dale Romans trained Silver Max at 4/5, with the two Christophe Clement runners Summer Front on 5/2 and Easy Crossing 6/1, with the rest of the field of 9 in double figures.
At Delaware Park the Delaware Handicap is G2 for f&m 3+ over 2000m, and Royal Delta is heading the call on 7/5, with Awesome Maria on 9/5 and Pachattack on 6/1.
There's a very good profile of top Japanese jockey Yuichi Fukunaga by Jay Hoveday on the Daily Racing Form website - he's currently riding at Del Mar.
Rough diamonds at York
