Amy Ryan - A Jockey’s Diary: Blinkers can again help Morning Post dash in and upset the odds

On Sunday, we go pot hunting at ‘The Arc’ meeting in Paris.

The first Saturday in October is Redcar Racecourse’s annual day in the sun when the totepool Two-Year-Old Trophy is run.

There’s valuable prize-money on offer – and we go with two chances in the maximum field of 23 runners in the Channel 4-televised six-furlong dash at 3.30pm.

Regular visitors to York Racecourse might recall Morning Post being placed on his racecourse debut in the McArthurglen York Designer Outlet EBF Maiden Stakes in June.

He was an outsider when finishing down the field in the DBS Premier Yearling Stakes back on Knavesmire during the Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival.

He was an even bigger outsider for the sales race at the St Leger meeting at Doncaster... but he landed it at a price of 100-1.

That may have shocked punters and bookmakers. There was no surprise at our yard, though, because he has shown a lot of potential right from the start of the season.

Morning Post was wearing blinkers for the first time as he registered his initial success. He will have them on again tomorrow, so, hopefully, they will have the same effect of concentrating his mind on the job at hand. He continues to be in great form at home.

Our second chance in the Redcar race is Comino, who won very nicely on his first run at Thirsk a month ago, showing a professional attitude to triumph over seven furlongs that day.

He will be dropping back a furlong in trip tomorrow, but our feeling was that he would have won at the north Yorkshire track over six furlongs. He has come on for that run and will have learned a lot from the experience.

We are also targeting two Group 3 races at Ascot tomorrow when Hot Streak and Oasis Town go for the Cornwallis Stakes at 2.05pm.

After two wins at York, the second in the Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes at the Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival, Hot Streak stepped into Group race company twice last month, finishing a promising third in the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury. He has come out of that last race well and the ground in Berkshire is currently good and that will not inconvenience him.

Oasis Town is a consistent filly who opened her account on her second outing when I was in the saddle at Carlisle in June. She then went on to be placed in the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury. She is doing fine in her homework and we are hopeful of a good run tomorrow.

Tiddliwinks represents us in the John Guest Bengough Stakes at 3.15pm. If he should reproduce the form he displayed when mid-division in the Group 1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York in August, he could go close.

Over at Newmarket, Hopes N Dreams goes for the Listed contest at 4.45pm.

She has had a great season, winning five times and becoming a little bit of a Hamilton Park specialist. She’s won at the Lanarkshire track four times, and got a victory at Epsom, too.

She has to go into Listed company now because of her super record, so hopefully she can manage the step up in class.

After a busy Saturday, our attention turns to Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.

Hamza has been running consistently all season, including three second spots in the middle of the summer after starting with two victories in May.

He goes for the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye on Sunday afternoon against horses which Tiddliwinks competed against at York. He will be one of the outsiders and it will be run at a fast and furious place but we think that will suit him.

York’s final fixtures of the year are Countryside Day on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12 when musicians from the Coldstream Guards will bring down the curtain.

The feature races include the Coral Sprint Trophy and Listed Coral Rockingham Stakes. On-the-day prices for the Friday are £13 and £24 in the Grandstand & Paddock and County Stand respectively. On Saturday, it is £18 and £29.

Tickets can be purchased at www.yorkracecourse.co.uk.