HAT-TRICK seeking soft-ground specialist Jonny Ebeneezer has the class to conquer a hugely competitive field in this afternoon's £65,000 William Hill Trophy at York.

Any further rain will definitely suit Ian Wood's fast-improving sprinter, while his keen style of racing is a major bonus since very few hold-up horses have had a prayer on the Knavesmire this term.

Even the jockeys are at a loss to explain quite why that is the case, however it has been a feature of the action at the course that those horses running up with the pace have been nigh impossible to peg back.

With such a welter of prize money on offer the race has not surprisingly attracted a maximum 20-runner-up. And there has already been floods of ante-post cash for two of the contestants, Just James and Impressive Flight.

Both are clearly useful, although whether they'll have the speed to cope with Jonny Ebeneezer, who could not have been more impressive on his latest two starts at Windsor and Epsom, remains open to question.

The three-year-old gelding's sparkling performance at Epsom's Derby meeting was particularly meritorious, brushing aside Mark Johnston's useful speedster Flur Na H Alba with contemptuous ease.

It's a crying shame that the once all-conquering veteran Malton-based trainer, Jimmy FitzGerald, no longer has the sort of firepower he enjoyed throughout the 1980s.

Considering we've reached mid-June and the stable has only had a handful of winners, to some extent reflects just how low Fitz' fortunes have sunk. But just maybe there could be a shaft of light at the end of the tunnel in the shape of Raison Garde (3.35), heading for the valuable Royal Yorkshire Rated Stakes.

The distance was arguably too short, the ground too firm, and FitzGerald reckoned his charge wasn't 100 per cent fit when Raison Garde made her reappearance at Pontefract. How come then the filly won, even if the winning margin was only a neck?

By all accounts it was because Raison Garde has improved a great deal since her juvenile days and has now made up into a pretty smart three-year-old.

In the earlier Queen Mother's Cup, Thirsk-based Gralmano (2.45) returns to a more suitable trip of a mile-and-a-half having failed to justify favouritism over ten furlongs in the Zetland Gold Cup at Redcar.

The time before Gralmano had routed a pretty useful field over track and trip and provided he can reproduce that level of form, hopefully the Cup may well stay in Yorkshire.

Among the 2002 apprentice ranks the 7lb claiming jockey Lisa Jones is really beginning to make a name for herself.

Lisa heads for Sandown to partner Classic Millennium (4.20), a horse she has already won twice on this season. Interestingly Pat Eddery partnered Classic Millennium at Windsor last time out, and for my money he didn't go anything like as well for the eleven-times former champion.

Perhaps Newmarket trainer Willie Musson is in agreement as Lisa is back in the saddle for the Melbourne Racing Club Handicap at the Esher track.

With David Chapman's stable in such excellent form it might be worth following Soaked (5.50) in his bid to complete a quick-fire double at Bath in the Levy Board Handicap.

Soaked started the week in scintillating fashion by scooping a decent pot at Ripon last Sunday, and it looks like he could be rounding off proceedings on a similar note by taking the finale at the West Country course.

Top southern pilot Richard Johnson pays a rare visit to Hexham, staging the only jumping fixture of the day.

Johnson teams up with previous track scorer Bold Cardogan (2.35) in the opening Novices' Handicap Hurdle. Stamina, rather than out-and-out speed, is the forte of Bold Cardowan, well-suited by the severe nature of the uphill climb to the winning line at the picturesque Northumberland venue.

Milan King, who has been a good friend to this column, turns up in the extended two-mile handicap hurdle at 4.15.

He came back from a long absence to run with plenty of promise at Market Rasen, form which might easily be good enough to take a relatively weak event.

* Whitsbury trainer David Elsworth warmed up for Royal Ascot with a winner at Sandown as Duty Paid justified favouritism in the EBF Maiden Fillies' Stakes.

The 6-4 chance got the better of a battle with Riva Royale just inside the final furlong and pushed out by Richard Quinn, went on to score by a length and a half.

Duty Paid may herself be bound for the Royal meeting as Elsworth revealed: ''If she's all right after this then she could run next Saturday in the new Listed race, the Henry Carnarvon Stakes. We'll see how she comes out of this.

''She still ran a bit green today and she is a scopey sort of filly rather than a whizz-up sort.''

Elsworth's possible runners at next week's meeting include Persian Punch, First Ballot and Indian Creek.

The first two-named run in the same Jeff Smith colours as Duty Paid.

''Punch goes for the Gold Cup and he's fine while we are going to try First Ballot in the Queen Alexandra Stakes,'' said Elsworth.

''Indian Creek goes for the Prince of Wales's Stakes and I've got three in the Hunt Cup, although I doubt whether they will all get in.

''I've got a lovely filly, Rainbow End, who won here last month and she is in the Listed race over a mile and a quarter but I might think about the Queen's Vase."

John Quinn enjoyed a double on the day but the Malton trainer may have been unlucky not to be going home with his unbeaten record at the track intact.

Carlton and Captain Venti both scored for Quinn but well-backed favourite Morpheous looked unfortunate when just held by Contract in a thrilling finish to the SBJ Classified Stakes.

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