Margot Did and Society Rock are the two Group One winners among 42 entries for the Duke of York Stakes on the Knavesmire.
Group One horses set for Knavesmire
Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes heroine Margot Did and Golden Jubilee Stakes victor Society Rock are the two Group 1 winners among 42 entries for the Duke of York Stakes, which will form the highlight of the opening day of York's Dante Festival.
The six-furlong Group 2 contest, worth £100,000, will be staged on Wednesday 16 May and is traditionally a good pointer towards the year's top sprints.
Trainer James Fanshawe today indicated that classy sprinter Society Rock, who prevailed in the 2011 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, could well make his annual bow on the Knavesmire this May.
The Simon Gibson-owned five-year-old also ran a cracker to finish second in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest in France but wasn't in that sort of form when last seen in public in the Hong Kong Sprint last December.
Fanshawe said: "We gave him a nice long break after Hong Kong and he is looking and training very well now.
"He hasn't galloped yet - he will do his first bit this Saturday - but the Duke of York Stakes would definitely be under consideration.
"Despite winning the Golden Jubilee last season, he was a forgotten horse. He is a top-class sprinter and we are hoping he can have another good year."
Margot Did struck a famous blow for the fillies when jockey Hayley Turner booted her home in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes.
She could bid to recapture winning ways in the Duke of York Stakes, as may York specialist Hoof It.
Trained in Yorkshire by Mick Easterby and part-owned by top golfer Lee Westwood, Hoof It has triumphed three times on the Knavesmire, including when he took the 20-runner Sky Bet Dash last July.
Two other entries with strong York form are Bannock, winner of the 2011 coral.co.uk Rockingham Stakes and Masamah, who secured the spoils in both the John Smith's City Walls Stakes and the sportingbet.com Sprint.
Aside from the obvious quality, overall numbers are up significantly year-on-year with eight more entered for the race than at the same stage 12 months ago.
Entries for the Duke of York Stakes: Alben Star, Angels Will Fall, Arctic, Balty Boys, Bannock, Bapak Chinta, Bated Breath, B Fifty Two, Bogart, Boomerang Bob, Burwaaz, Definightly, Doncaster Rover, Elnawin, Elshabakiya, Elusivity, Empowering, Genki, Hitchens, Hoof It, Internationaldebut, Jimmy Styles, Libranno, Majestic Myles, Margot Did, Masamah, Mayson, Morache Music, Move In Time, Our Jonathan, Perfect Tribute, Sirius Prospect, Society Rock, Soul, Spirit Quartz, Swiss Dream, Switzerland, Temple Meads, The Cheka, The Reaper, Tiddliwinks, West Leake Diman
