Ebor Festival

After Britain's relatively quiet spell following the King George, it is time to take to the "Ascot of the North" for York's prestige Ebor Festival and a barnstormer to open the action on Wednesday. At the home of the famous old match races, we have probably the best of the season so far as Ryan Moore's "real deal" Constitution River (Wootton Bassett) looks to dethrone Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) in the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes. It is worth remembering that this place, which bore witness to the great historic duel...

Six-time Group 1 winner Calandagan (Gleneagles) was a notable absentee as 15 horses stood their ground at the latest entry stage for the Juddmonte International at York, with all roads leading back to Tokyo and a Japan Cup defence for the horse named Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2025. An enthralling edition of the Juddmonte International remains in prospect, with outstanding three-year-old Constitution River (Wootton Bassett) and last year's winner Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) heading the list of remaining contenders, along with Andrew Balding's Item (Frankel), a dual Group 2...

Chief executive William Derby is thrilled with the quality of the entries for the Group 1 races staged at York's Ebor Festival in August, with defending champion Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and 2024 runner-up Calandagan (Gleneagles) featuring among 30 horses in contention for the £1.5 million Juddmonte International. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Ombudsman was last seen winning the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot for the second consecutive year, while Calandagan is set to return to action in Sunday's G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, having floundered...

York's Knavesmire is the battleground for Europe's elite over the next four days, with the Ebor Festival playing out on the flat expanse as renowned for its uncomplicated nature as the folk who emanate from the county. Fair and upfront in true Yorkshire spirit, the track which sealed the reputation of City Of Troy 12 months ago will make or break the leading protagonists of the four Group 1 races staged over the piece, including the newly-upgraded City Of York on Saturday, Britain's first seven-furlong event in this category. That...

No two racing fans ever experience the same journey into the sport. For some the excitement of the punt comes first and a true appreciation for what the Thoroughbred is capable of comes later. Others have always known and still couldn't care less how the bookies bet on the next big race in the calendar. But if there is a common thread in it all, then it most likely comes in the shape of that one horse nearly all of us have, the horse who did more than any other...

It was said to be a source of "great disappointment" to the BHA's Flat Pattern Committee that its partners in Europe could not unanimously agree on an upgrade to the G2 Sky Bet City of York Stakes back in February. Had the application been approved by the European Pattern Committee (EPC), it would have seen the the race become the only Group 1 to be run over seven furlongs in Britain. This was no hit-and-hope attempt by York to attain that status, rather the culmination of a 12-year-plan, in conjunction...

Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) has been confirmed as an intended runner in next month's G1 Juddmonte International at York by owner Tim Gredley, who also revealed plans for the Derby runner-up to stay in training as a four-year-old. Trained by James Fanshawe, Ambiente Friendly has underlined his status as one of the leading three-year-old colts in training since his impressive victory in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial Stakes in May, first faring best of the rest behind City Of Troy (Justify) at Epsom and then running another solid race...

The G1 Juddmonte International, rated the Longines World's Best Race in 2020, will be run for a record £1.25 million in 2024, York Racecourse and Juddmonte announced on Friday. In 2023, the Juddmonte International was worth £1 million and produced another high-class winner in Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who ended the year as the joint highest-rated horse in the world outside Japan. The feature event on the opening day of the Sky Bet Ebor Festival also retained its position as one of the top ten races in the world. The...

Day 2 of York's Ebor Festival plays host to a stellar edition of the G1 Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks and features a mouthwatering rematch between the G1 Irish Oaks first and second Savethelastdance (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}). The former's trainer, Aidan O'Brien, has annexed six editions since the turn of the century, but is still three shy of the record nine held jointly by Mathew Dawson and Sir Michael Stoute. Savethelastdance's three career wins, which include a 22-length romp in May's Listed Cheshire Oaks, have all...

Five-furlong sprints used to be the dominion of the powerhouse colts and geldings, but recent years have seen a shift in the dynamic and that could hardly be better expressed than the line-up for Friday's G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S. at York. Four of the top five in the betting are fillies or mares and that doesn't even include last year's impressive winner Winter Power (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) who trades around the 20-1 mark which would have been inconceivable following her career-best here 12 months ago. Unusually, position...

  David Menuisier is not a man to concentrate on the past. The stable has been in the news over the fact that Phillipa Cooper of Normandie Stud decided to move stable star Lionel (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) to John and Thady Gosden after his poor performance in the G1 Irish Derby.    However, while Menuisier has had his say on the high-profile split in this week's Q&A, he explained that he has closed the chapter on the situation and is keen to move on.    There are few...

Brought to the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks as a still raw 3-year-old in 2020, Kirsten Rausing's Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) returns to the Knavesmire on Thursday an entirely different proposition to the one who chased the shadow of Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) as she pursues her own lofty goal. Successful in the same trio of Group 1 races in Germany that her second dam Albanova (GB) (Alzao) racked up in 2004, the grey had already achieved something truly notable even before her rampant return in the July 3 G1 Grand...