Our team for York is taking shape and I have a very strong fancy for this exciting two-year-old

IT’S a busy old time at Park House Stables right now as we put the finishing touches to our squad for York.

It’s one of my favourite meetings of the year and you have to tip your hat to the bosses at the track.

Richard Pelham / The SunAndrew Balding is preparing a strong team for the upcoming York Ebor festival[/caption]

They have pumped so much investment into the course and facilities over the years and they put up incredible prize-money.

The Ebor meeting has just grown and grown in stature and it’s one of the premier festivals anywhere in the world these days.

We are going to have several chances throughout the week and I’d say the one I’m looking forward to the most is Flora Of Bermuda in the Lowther Stakes on Thursday.

We were always pretty excited by her and it was a surprise that it took her four runs to open her account.

Mind you, she did run a screamer in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot when she was sixth but she was clearly the best on her side of the track.

She bolted up at Goodwood earlier this month and she is thriving at the moment.

We are also going to be sending The Foxes up the A1 for a crack at the Juddmonte International, though on the face of it, with Paddington and co in there, we will be thrilled if he can hit the frame.

And our warrior Coltrane will be on the team bus as well for the Lonsdale Cup. He deserves to get his head back in front after a couple of big runs in defeat.

We played an absolute blinder last Saturday, having three winners in total at Ascot and Newmarket.

Scampi has been a revelation this year and he continued his winning streak in the Shergar Cup Classic under Saffie Osborne.

We are likely going to target the Ebor with him next weekend and, if we can get him a little higher in the weights, we might even take a punt at some of the big Australian races like the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

The best part about his success is that he is owned by a huge syndicate of people through a company called Race Share.

We know the guys that launched and run it pretty well and this horse has been a real success story for them.

It allows people to get into horse ownership by buying as many shares in a horse as they like for a small amount.

The guys are great at keeping everyone in the syndicate updated with news and videos.

These sorts of innovations are great for the future of the sport because we want to encourage as many people from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible to take an interest.

A couple of my staff have even bought shares in the horse – so it’s fair to say Scampi gets favourable treatment when they’re around!

Of course, you hear horror stories of dodgy syndicate managers disappearing without paying bills and people being left out of pocket.

But as long as you do your due diligence, I would encourage anyone to think about getting involved, it can be great fun.

I’ll be racing at Newbury this afternoon with but won’t be hanging around as I’m shooting down to the Ageas Bowl to watch The Hundred cricket match between the Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles.

It’s kicking off a big weekend of sport, what with the England Women playing in the World Cup Final on Sunday.

We will probably clear out the famous colours room here at Park House and get the match up on the big screen – women’s football has come such a long way and it’s a huge moment for the country.

Of all our runners today I’d say our best chance of a winner is probably the beautifully-bred ARRAY (2.35 Newmarket).

He was very unlucky to finish second at Goodwood, I thought he was going to win everywhere bar the line, and hopefully he can get off the mark at the third attempt.

Keep an eye out for EQUITY LAW (3.45 Sandown, Sunday) who runs tomorrow, too.

He got stuck in the mud at Chester and I fancy him to run a big race, dropping back to a stiff five furlongs on a sounder surface.

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