Softer surface may be perfect for Mass Rally

Mass Rally has run several big races at York in the last couple of seasons, not least when winning the valuable and ultra-competitive sprint by a length-and-a-half 12 months ago.

That was his second success on the track and he also emerged with a lot of credit from a fourth-placed effort in the Duke Of York Clipper Logistics Stakes at the Dante festival in May.

Since then, Mass Rally has not had the opportunity to race on the easy ground he favours. Last time out in the Ayr Gold Cup, the seven-year-old finished only 20 of 27 but, like his previous two races, the underfoot conditions were too quick for him to deliver his best.

That will not be the case tomorrow, with a softer surface anticipated. Darlington-based Dods said: “He is in great form and he always seems to run well at York.”

Dods’s other contender, Spinatrix, finished a highly creditable fifth behind her stable-mate in last year’s Coral Sprint Trophy. Now six, she has had another very solid campaign. Second in Listed company at Nottingham in the Spring, she comes into her latest assignment off a victory at Ripon.

That success has led to her being allocated top weight of 9st 10lb, although her rider, the talented apprentice Connor Beasley, brings a handy 3lb allowance.