NAP of the Day: I’ve got eager eyes for Mr Lightside on Saturday

The Ebor Festival at York reaches a conclusion on Saturday and my NAP of the Day, which has been influenced by results earlier in the week, goes in the penultimate contest.

Following the Gimcrack at York on Friday afternoon, I've decided to double down on MR LIGHTSIDE for the Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes just over 24 hours later.

That's because his third in the Molecomb Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last month was boosted by the winner Big Mojo, who was just a length ahead of the selection in Chichester, emerging from the aforementioned Group 2 contest with plenty of credit.

He was 'only' fourth, beaten a couple of lengths, but he looked an obvious winner at the two-furlong pole before getting outstayed on his first try over six furlongs.

This follows further advertisements of the form earlier this week. Celandine, who was a length behind Mr Lightside at Goodwood, won the Lowther here on the Knavesmire on Thursday - while Diligently, who was trailing over three lengths behind the son of Earthlight in a novice event at Nottingham during the first week of July, won the big sales race on that same afternoon.

What about the horse who sandwiched Mr Lightside and Diligently at Nottingham? He's now rated 85 having bolted up on his subsequent start.

Michael Appleby's colt's form is very strong in the context of Saturday's race. Only Tropical Storm boasts a comparable standard, courtesy of his second in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, but he's yet to win in four appearances and comes here needing to put a sub-par effort behind him.

Per the 16:45 York Odds at time of publication, it's 8/1 bar. I suppose Irish raider Magnum Force, for the red-hot Ger Lyons, is interesting given he's only raced twice and holds an entry for the G1 Middle Park Stakes at HQ next month, but otherwise I think it's a relatively modest affair that ought to be between the top two in the market.

The only concern I have is Appleby's current form. He's without a win in three weeks, but Big Mojo ran to form and he's had several near-misses within that timeframe so it's only a slight one.

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