Graeme Rodway thinks an unexposed three-year-old can defeat older rivals at York

3.15 York
Sky Bet Club Handicap | 1m, 3yo+ | ITV/RTV

You will often hear racing pundits refer to a race as being trappy and I’ve been asked to define what is a trappy race in the past? Take a look at this contest and it is a prime example.

A trappy race is simply a difficult or tricky one to weigh up and the big question here is whether the combination of 8lb weight-for-age and a step up in trip will be enough to give the only three-year-old in the line up, Hartswood, the advantage over his more exposed rivals.

The son of Garswood is a half-brother to two winners over a mile or further, and he shaped as though he would stay this far when third over 7f at this track last time. He looked the least likely of the principals to win a furlong out but kept on well on his first run for 278 days.

He will need to progress again, though, if he is to challenge Orbaan and Greenside, who both bounced back to form with a win last time and have strong claims at the top of the weights.

It’s possible to argue both would prefer softer ground, but Greenside has won on good to firm in the past and will have no problem returning to a mile from seven furlongs last time. He probably doesn’t have much more improvement in him at the age of nine and a wide draw in stall eight isn’t ideal either.

Hartswood has fared better in the draw stakes from stall two and might be too progressive.

Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

David O'Meara, trainer of Orbaan
He won nicely at York last month, he's in great form and I think he'll run well again. There are showers forecast and any rain would be a positive, but good ground would be fine.

Owen Burrows, trainer of Elwazir
He's been a frustrating horse, we're not winning with what we're doing. After discussions with the team we've decided to go down [in trip] back to a mile, whether that's the right way we'll see. He's a generous enough horse and always travels well in his races but has not been finishing them out. It's a shot in the dark.

Henry Candy, trainer of Greenside
We need it to rain otherwise he won't run. He's in good order and should run well. It's his first time over a mile for some time and he'll need to settle a lot better.

Tony Carroll, trainer of Silent Attack
We had a great winter with him and were getting ready for the all-weather finals at Lingfield, which obviously didn't happen. We're making it up as we go along a bit, but he's in good form. The ground and track shouldn't be a problem and I'm sure he'll run very well.

Tim Easterby, trainer of Al Erayg and Just Hiss
Al Erayg has been running well. He likes juice in the ground and should go well. Just Hiss is a couple of pounds out of the handicap but loves York. He also wants dig in the ground.

Micky Hammond, trainer of Irv
He ran a nice race at Thirsk on his comeback and we're very happy with him. He won the race last year and goes well at the track. He handles give in the ground, but wouldn't want too much rain.

Reporting by Andrew Dietz

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