York Course Guide

One of the leading flat racecourses in the country, York’s Knavesmire track has existed since 1730 and almost 300 years on it stages one of the highlights of the racing calendar in the shape of the four-day Ebor Festival in August.

The Festival includes middle-distance Group 1 events in the shape of the International Stakes and Yorkshire Oaks, a top sprint in the Nunthorpe Stakes, leading juvenile races in the Gimcrack and Lowther Stakes plus the flagship Ebor Handicap itself.

Outside of the big fixture, York hosts the three-day Dante Stakes meeting in May; the feature race a key trial for the Epsom Derby as its twin, the Musidora Stakes is for the Oaks, plus the Yorkshire Cup.

Over the height of the summer, York stages two major Saturday handicaps in the shape of the Macmillan Charity Sprint in mid-June and the John Smith’s Cup the following month.

Flat Racing

Left handed, flat. In essence, a very fair track, ideal for the long-striding galloper. In recent seasons, the field tends to come more down the centre of the track than has historically been the case, particularly if conditions are testing. The track was made into a circuit in 2005, and offers a straight 5f/6f track, while 7f races start on a chute.

Because they can start racing from a long way out at York, which is a big galloping track, sometimes the last one to challenge has an advantage. Some people think it suits front-runners, but more often than not the one in the lead will get picked off at around the 1f marker. There’s no doubt it’s a quality course, though, wide, with no ridges, lovely sweeping turns and no draw bias. It can become very testing when the ground gets soft - it is KnavesMIRE, after all - and then it really takes some getting.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver

York Top Times
Last 5 years

Flat

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
5f	Star Of Lady M (Good to Firm)	21 Aug 2024	56.12s
6f	Azure Blue (Good)	17 May 2023	1m 9.11s
7f	The Lion In Winter (Good to Firm)	21 Aug 2024	1m 21.58s
7f 192y	Croupier (Good to Firm)	18 May 2023	1m 34.35s
1m 177y	Real World (Good)	21 Aug 2021	1m 47.66s
1m 2f 56y	Mishriff (Good)	18 Aug 2021	1m 59.25s
1m 3f 188y	Warm Heart (Good to Firm)	24 Aug 2023	2m 25.86s
1m 5f 188y	Soulcombe (Good to Firm)	20 Aug 2022	2m 55.85s
2m 56y	Coltrane (Good to Firm)	25 Aug 2023	3m 27.92s

York Top Trainers
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Flat

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
A M Balding	148	28	47	£1,845,186	18.92%	£35.21
W J Haggas	135	26	32	£1,219,455	19.26%	-£11.74
K R Burke	194	19	66	£592,658	9.79%	-£74.18
K A Ryan	204	16	53	£443,539	7.84%	-£48.63
R M Beckett	97	16	34	£972,698	16.49%	-£1.54
R A Fahey	275	15	67	£432,600	5.45%	-£176.58
J & T Gosden	74	13	31	£1,946,924	17.57%	-£13.83
D O'Meara	210	11	51	£247,888	5.24%	-£113.00
R Hannon	64	11	17	£269,546	17.19%	£17.50
A P O'Brien	52	11	17	£2,212,109	21.15%	-£6.13

York Top Jockeys
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Oisin Murphy	138	23	44	£2,005,803	16.67%	£5.21
Tom Marquand	128	21	32	£1,141,940	16.41%	-£12.78
W Buick	96	20	27	£2,130,438	20.83%	£2.05
R L Moore	94	18	35	£2,430,214	19.15%	-£7.26
D Tudhope	172	17	51	£565,451	9.88%	-£57.63
Rossa Ryan	114	15	33	£1,276,733	13.16%	£18.67
Jason Hart	121	11	33	£300,642	9.09%	-£3.95
C Lee	114	10	30	£342,904	8.77%	-£44.18
P J McDonald	92	10	27	£431,725	10.87%	-£1.50
H Crouch	51	10	22	£202,470	19.61%	£30.88