Small Fry will take his place in one of the feature staying handicaps of the York Ebor Festival on Wednesday August 19, lining up in the 3256m Stayers Handicap.
As its name suggests, the race is a Class 2 Heritage Handicap on the Knavesmire, designed for the staying specialists. Run on the opening day of the festival, the Stayers Handicap offers a valuable £100,000 prize fund and sits on the undercard which features the Group 1 Juddmonte International.
The progressive five-year-old, who we secured with trainer Joseph O’Brien last year, has shown steady progression throughout the season. He has drawn barrier 10 in a field of 17 for Wednesday’s race with Dylan Browne McMonagle booked to take the ride.
Small Fry arrives at York off the back of an excellent performance at Glorious Goodwood, where he finished a close second in the Summer Handicap, a performance that saw his rating rise to 96. After beginning very well, he was held up on the home straight and was forced to wait for a gap before finishing off strongly behind the winner.
Small Fry ~ 2nd, Summer Handicap at Goodwood
Jockey Oisin Murphy felt Small Fry was unlucky not to have secured victory, saying after the race:
“I had to wait for a run and the winner got first run on him so arguably he was unlucky. He’s versatile trip wise. The ground was very fast today and he let himself down on it, so you can’t fault his honesty.”
Joseph O’Brien was equally encouraged by the performance and believes there is plenty more to come from the gelding.
“He had an interrupted run and did well to get back and finish as close to the eventual winner as he did. I felt as though we had the winning of the race if we had a smooth passage. His best days are ahead of him for sure.”
While York is an important target, he will have bigger fish to fry as he turns his attention towards a Melbourne spring campaign, with the initial aim to get him through the qualification stages for the Caulfield Cup.
His staying ability and continued progression have given connections plenty of encouragement that he can be highly competitive once he makes the trip to Australia.