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	City Of Troy (Good to Firm)	21 Aug 2024	2m 4.32s
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	161	32	49	£2,109,414	19.88%	£14.54
W J Haggas	139	29	31	£1,407,108	20.86%	£8.56
K R Burke	198	18	69	£544,165	9.09%	-£71.43
R M Beckett	97	17	39	£1,014,881	17.53%	£22.46
K A Ryan	211	15	48	£445,710	7.11%	-£38.63
J & T Gosden	75	15	30	£1,986,468	20%	-£21.78
R A Fahey	281	14	59	£367,684	4.98%	-£160.68
R Hannon	71	12	21	£301,599	16.9%	£7.75
A P O'Brien	51	12	18	£2,311,351	23.53%	-£2.76
D O'Meara	216	10	53	£211,810	4.63%	-£148.50

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

Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Oisin Murphy	128	23	46	£1,976,423	17.97%	-£4.26
W Buick	95	23	28	£2,276,592	24.21%	£2.08
Tom Marquand	123	21	28	£1,154,049	17.07%	-£5.85
R L Moore	91	19	32	£2,529,456	20.88%	-£0.88
D Tudhope	169	16	52	£554,491	9.47%	-£49.25
P J McDonald	111	15	29	£636,366	13.51%	£8.91
Rossa Ryan	121	14	38	£1,228,385	11.57%	-£8.00
H Crouch	57	10	24	£202,470	17.54%	£24.88
Jason Hart	122	9	34	£270,601	7.38%	-£10.50
C Lee	115	9	33	£318,935	7.83%	-£43.43