Poptronic leads British EBF Lyric Fillies’ Stakes at York as Burke hopes improver is bound for Yorkshire Oaks

Wed 20 Jul 2022

The current leading trainer at York, Karl Burke, is hoping the upwardly mobile Poptronic can hit the high notes in the British Stallion Studs EBF Lyric Fillies’ Stakes on Friday evening at York’s ‘Music Showcase Weekend’.

The lightly-raced three-year-old has won all of her last three starts, including a one-length success in a Group 3 contest at Newcastle last month.

That victory means the David and Yvonne Blunt-owned Poptronic must carry a 5lb penalty for the extended mile and a quarter contest on the Knavesmire. But at 107, she is comfortably the highest-rated filly in the field of seven and looks highly likely to head the market.

Burke, who trains at Spigot Lodge just to the west of Middleham, said: “Very much an improver, she’s a filly we’re hoping is good enough to run in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks – hence we want to give her an experience of the track.

“She’s a Group 3 winner and she’s carrying the penalty, but there wasn’t that many options around. And with the owners being local, we all decided that it was a good spot to go for.

“She’s a lovely filly. We probably did well to win with her at the back-end as a two-year-old. A lot of people wouldn’t have bothered running her. All she’ll do is keep improving physically and hopefully that will transfer into improvement in form as well.

“She‘s in great form. She looks as though she has got stronger again. She’s quite a light-framed filly – a big filly that has still got a lot of strengthening up to do but she looks in good condition.

“I’m hoping we can get to the Ebor Festival but she’d obviously want to be going and winning this race nicely and use it as a stepping stone for the rest of the year.”

The going at York is currently good-to-firm, which Burke feels is unlikely to inconvenience Poptronic. He said: “She’s a good-actioned filly – she’s quite forward-going – so I have no real issues with the ground.”

Achelois is another interesting runner, having finished a narrowly-beaten second over course and distance in the John Smith’s Cup just under a fortnight ago. A further eye-catching declaration is the John and Thady Gosden-trained Judith, who is two from two career starts.

Updated List of qualified horses for British EBF £100,000 2yo Series

Thu 14 Jul 2022

With only a couple of months to go before the first British EBF £100,000 2yo Series Final at Goodwood on 6 September, the EBF have updated the lists of horses eligible to enter both this race for fillies and the colts & geldings final at York on 7 October.

Both races are worth £100,000 each and any EBF registered 2yo that has finished in the first 6 in an EBF 2yo Restricted Stakes qualifier in Britain is eligible to enter. The lists are sorted by trainer under the race they have qualified for.

The series, new in 2022, has attracted 253 individual runners over 54 qualifiers to the end of June representing 98 different trainers.

Both finals have normal closing entries with no forfeit stages.

The list of fillies qualified to run in the British EBF £100,000 2yo Series Final at Goodwood on 6 September can be found here.

The list of colts and geldings qualified to run in the British EBF £100,000 2yo Series Final at York on 7 October can be found here.

British EBF £100,000 2yo Series Update

Mon 4 Jul 2022

With the flat racing season well and truly underway, the list of 2yos qualified to enter the British EBF £100,000 2yo Series Finals at Goodwood at York is looking healthy!

With 54 qualifiers already run, there are still plenty more opportunities to make your EBF registered 2yo eligible to enter our 2 £100,000 finals. The fillies’ race is first at Goodwood on 6 September and the colts & geldings get their opportunity at York on 7 October.

Full conditions of each final can be found on the BHA Racing Admin website (search under Fixtures & Races, then Race Series). We are currently working with the BHA to get a live list of qualified horses up on this section of the website.

In the meantime, you can find a list (correct to mid-June) of qualified horses by trainer and listed under which final they are qualified for here: Qualified Horses June 2022. This document also lists the remaining EBF Restricted Maiden and Novice races through which you can make your horse eligible for the finals. All horses placed 1 – 6 in a race on the list will be able to enter the appropriate final.

If you have any questions about any aspect of the series, please email: rachael@ebfhorseracing.co.uk