Four days of the best racing we’ll see this season, the Ebor Festival at York Racecourse is one of the most anticipated meetings of the season. It features the richest race of the season for York, the Juddemonte International which has been won by none other than Frankel. With this being one of the best meetings of the season, we’ve compiled a guide for you to make the most out of the Yorkshire Ebor Festival.
The meeting was first held in 1843, which featured the first running of the Ebor Handicap, considered by many as one of the best and most competitive handicaps of the entire season. The Juddmonte International was first run in 1972 and has been won by some incredible horses down the years including Halling, Sea The Stars, Rip Van Winkle, Postponed and most notably Frankel, who graced the Knavesmire with a complete domination of the event. The meeting itself continues to be one of the most popular on the calendar, with the event well attended over all four days. The Festival has only been abandoned once in its history, with the 2008 meeting having to be called off due to waterlogging.
On Day 1 the feature race is the Juddmonte International Stakes, which is the richest race of the calendar year for York. It was won last year in brilliant style by Mostahdaf. There doesn’t, however, tend to be many shocks in the race, but this year’s renewal looks to be all about one horse as City Of Troy bids to continue his dominance this year barring his blip in the 2,000 Guineas.
Day 2 is headlined by the Yorkshire Oaks and was won last year by Queen Kindly. The the most notable winner in recent years was Enable who won the race in 2017 and 2019. Bluestocking is all the rage for the race this year in the same colours as Ralph Beckett’s runner who the Pretty Polly at the Curragh in June before only finding Goliath too good at Ascot since.
The Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes headlines the penultimate day of the Festival and is almost always a hugely competitive and classy affair. Last year’s shock winner Live In The Dream will be back for more but the Australian mare Asfoora should take all the beating after her narrow defeat to Big Evs at Goodwood.
The final day of the meeting occurs on the Saturday and features perhaps the biggest race of the Festival, the Ebor Handicap. It is one of, if not the most competitive races of the season and was won last year by Willie Mullins’ Absurde, who went on the win the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. This year’s renewal is no different and is very difficult to piece together.
York Racecourse is a galloping horses dream, with little to no undulations, sweeping turns and a very long run-in. On that basis, it should be a front-runners heaven, though that doesn’t tend to be the case, likely due to the long straight which gives hold up horses to find their stride. The Knavesmire does, however, have a draw bias, with it being most prevalent at the six furlong trip where there is a definite advantage to be drawn high, where horses can take advantage of the stand’s rail.
In the big races your likely best bet is to follow trainers such as Aidan O’Brien, William Haggas and Charlie Appleby, who have enjoyed great success over the recent years. That said, one trainer to watch very closely is David O’Meara, who ready one for the big handicaps at this meeting.
It’s no surprise that Ryan Moore is one of the jockeys to follow at the Ebor Meeting, but other jockeys to note are Daniel Tudhope who has an excellent general record at the track along with Tom Marquand, William Buick and Jim Crowley.
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