Ebor Festival

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...

Having played with a crop of 3-year-old fillies unable to stay within hailing distance of her so far this year, Ballydoyle's fast-ascending starlet Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) has a proper examination awaiting her on York's Knavesmire on Thursday as Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) squares up in the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks. Thoroughly scintillating in the June 4 G1 Epsom Oaks and impressive as the widest-margin winner of the G1 Irish Oaks on record at The Curragh July 17, she even has course form having kickstarted her illustrious...

   While York's Ebor Festival wraps up with its £250,000 feature handicap on Saturday, The Curragh stages the G2 Galileo Irish EBF Futurity S. and G2 A.R.M. Holding Debutante S. for the budding Classic contenders of 2021. Twelve months ago, Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was finishing fifth to Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) in the Debutante which underlines what these vital staging posts can play host to. While Aidan O'Brien was unable to extend his record tally of a dozen winners despite having that ammunition, the fillies' contest...