Snow Sky Wins Hard-Fought Betway Yorkshire Cup

Snow Sky (left) outbattles Brown Panther in a thrilling renewal of the Yorkshire Cup

Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore recorded their third victory in the Yorkshire Cup since 2009 with Snow Sky, who came out on top of a thrilling battle with Brown Panther by just half a length, with Havana Beat and Romsdal filling the third and fourth places respectively.

Island Remede took the six-runner field along in the early stages with Romsdal, Brown Panther and Snow Sky all prominent behind the leader. The race really began to develop two furlongs from home as the three market principals formed a line of three across the track. Romsdal was the first to crack under the pressure, leaving Brown Panther and Snow Sky to battle it out. The lead seemed to change hands multiple times in the closing stages as Brown Panther dug in grimly under his 5-lb penalty, but as the line approached Snow Sky just managed to pull out more to make a winning seasonal debut.

Jockey Ryan Moore was pleased with how Snow Sky battled to the line, saying afterwards: “it was a steady pace and he hit the front too soon, so I’m very happy with that”.

Trainer Sir Michael Stoute echoed Moore’s praise for the winner, describing the performance as “courageous” and also revealing that the trip of one mile six furlongs was about his limit, ruling him out of another potential battle with Brown Panther in the Ascot Gold Cup next month.

Stoute did not have any immediate plans for Snow Sky but did say it could be “worth throwing a dart” at the Melbourne Cup at the end of the season, seeing as he travelled over to Hong Kong so well in December. Snow Sky is available to back at 25/1 with some bookmakers for a rare Australian raid for Stoute.

Snow Sky came into the race rated 121 by Timeform. With Havana Beat (115) finishing just two lengths away, it is unlikely that Snow Sky will have improved on his overall figure. However, that would still make for an above-average renewal of the Yorkshire Cup and it’s far from out of the question that Snow Sky, still only four, will improve as the year goes on.

Second-placed Brown Panther remains a general 7/1 shot for the Ascot Gold Cup, the next race in the Long Distance diet for the British Champions Series. The race is reported to be his next target according to owner Michael Owen, who was pleased with his horse’s performance giving weight to the winner, saying: “There was no shame in second place, it was a great race”.