Royal approval for richest Ebor Festival
Queen Camilla’s third visit to the North’s leading festival of horseracing in as many years will represent the royal approval of an event now boasting four Group 1 races and the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap.
However, William Derby, the track’s long-serving chief executive and clerk of the course, said while the meeting would be the richest ever staged at York, the Queen would meet some of Knavesmire’s “unsung heroes”, including representatives of St John’s Ambulance and the teams that looks after security and the racing surface.
William said: “We’re working closely with her office and North Yorkshire Police and the Met Police. It’s an exciting operation and we’re delighted she’s coming and will present the trophy for the Juddmonte International.”
The one-mile two and a half furlong race will also feature the world’s joint highest rated racehorse, Ombudsman, competing against horses from Japan, Australia and the USA.
Five-year-old Ombudsman, who has won nine of his 12 races and was second in the other three, is taking on the Aidan O’Brien three-year-old Constitution River, who racing pundits have labelled “the pretender to the throne”.
Andrew Balding’s Frankel colt Item is also ready to line up, having proven at York with two Group 2 successes over course and distance, in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes and the Sky Bet York Stakes.
William said: “It’s a real thrilling race that you’d hope for for £1.5m prize money.”
Meanwhile, William said the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, which regularly ranks as the highest rated 1,000m sprint in the world, was shaping up to be particularly competitive, with Australian Asfoora’s retirement being postponed until after her Nunthorpe Stakes title defence.
He said: "She was due to retire and go away to be a brood mare, but she ran such a good race at Glorious Goodwood that her trainer and owner have kindly decided to keep her in training.
"She’s the defending champion of our fastest race of the week, the Coolmore Nunthorpe, so the fact she’s coming back is great. An American horse Bacio, that won at Royal Ascot, is flying into Yorkshire, and we’ve got a Japanese horse, Satono Reve, that was just second at Royal Ascot and Newmarket.”
William said the latter horse was set to be ridden by one of the world’s best jockeys, João ‘The Magic Man’ Moreira.
He added: “The global links between the Ebor meeting and the rest of the world build year on year.
“We very much want to make them feel welcome. A lot of my and my colleague Anthea Leigh’s time is spent going abroad during the winter, to get horses’ connections to consider running their horses at York. That’s made easier for the fact that for the last five years the Juddmonte International has been the world’s best race. We’ve elevated ourselves as a racetrack into global recognition.
“ITV Racing will be broadcasting all five faces on each day of the festival, along with, for the first time at York, an opening show next Saturday morning in front of a live audience.
“Some 140 territories around the world are taking coverage of the racing. We’re being shown on national television in Pakistan for the first time.
"That global reach of the races continues – the Melbourne Cup is going to be physically here for the SkyBet Ebor, the only winning race for it in Britain. We hope that we’re putting York as a city and Yorkshire as a region on a global stage.
In addition, SkyBet has donated a race title on the Thursday to Sir Kevin Sinfield’s charity raising funds for he Motor Neurone Disease (MND) community. The serial fundraiser is set to attend the second day of the meeting for the Sir Kevin Sinfield 7 In 7 Grand Finale Handicap and to raise awareness of the Leeds Rhinos legend's seventh and final challenge, alongside the Ladies Day fashion contests.
The festival will also be celebrating adopted Yorkshireman Joe Fanning, who called time on his career last month aged 55, after surgery for prostate cancer.
He is set to be given a guard of honour on the opening day by his fellow jockeys before a presentation to him and his wife, Sarah, a former York Racecourse employee.
Known for his skill aboard front-runners, Fanning landed the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2021 with Subjectivist and almost half of his career total of 2,947 Flat winners with the Middleham yard run by Mark and Charlie Johnston.
William said: “It will be great to give Joe a send-off. He has ridden at York for 35 years. He’s had an incredible career and retires in one piece and in good heart.”