Dods readies his York Angels

Trainer Michael Dods is planning to be double-handed for the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes – the sprint showdown at York that his Denton Hall Stables won last summer.

All being well, on Friday August 19, Mecca’s Angel ,will try to regain the Group One crown she claimed 12 months ago on the Knavesmire.

And the intention is for her stable-mate, Easton Angel, to also line up in the 2016 renewal of the five-furlong race, which has increased in value to be worth £340,000.

Mecca’s Angel gave Dods’ team a cherished first Group 1 triumph when she scored in convincing fashion by two lengths from Us raider, Acapulco.

Owner David Metcalfe’s grey mare opened her 2016 campaign with a neck defeat behind the Clive Cox trained, Profitable, in the Temple Stakes before not firing in the testing conditions at Royal Ascot in the King’s Stand.

But she was back to something close to her very best last month when putting up an emphatic display in the Group Two Sapphire Stakes at The Curragh.

Easton Angel, owned by Al Shaqab Racing and Ritchie Fiddes, has already struck twice this term – including over course and distance in the Listed British Stallion Studs EBF Westow Stakes, interestingly the same race that launched the career of Profitable, who remains a potential opponent in two weeks’ time.

The three-year-old filly, stabled in County Durham, ran well …

continue reading in source www.skysports.com