York Ebor Festival 2015: Clipper Logistics Handicap (15.05)

Western Reserve can defy a rise in the weights to land the 1m Clipper Logistics Handicap at York (15.05), on the second day of the Ebor Festival.

The Lady Jane Cecil trained colt has won two of his four starts and showed improved form on each occasion.

In the last of those successes, Western Reserve made all and quickened nicely two from home to beat Great Park by a neck in a competitive 12-runner class 2 contest at Newmarket off a mark of 93.

The three-year-old was value for more than the winning margin, and the runner-up has since gone on to land a decent contest at Ascot off a mark of 94 to give the form a solid look.

Considering that Western Reserve was giving 6lb to Great Park it was a cracking effort and makes a 10lb rise in the weights look fair.

A revised mark of 103 looks workable and should not prove behind Western Reserve, especially as the son of Indian Charlie remains unexposed and open to stacks more improvement.

To me, Western Reserve looks a potential pattern performer in the making, and if that is to prove the case then he looks weighted to rake all the beating in this.

There are plenty of dangers in a wide open affair, and the William Haggas trained Mange All is one that commands plenty of respect.

The gelding had some top class for to his name in hot handicaps last season, winning at Ascot before finishing a cracking one length second to the now 116-rated The Corsican at Doncaster.

Mange All went on to round off the campaign with a fine fourth of 22 to GM Hopkins in the Silver Cambridgeshire at Newmarket, and shaped well on seasonal reappearance when a not knocked about fifth of 22 to Gabrial at Doncaster off his current mark of 97.