The 2025 York Ebor Festival Betting Odds

2024 Sky Bet Ebor Festival Betting Tips

The Sky Bet Ebor Festival runs between 21-24 August, with the opening day being the Juddmonte International where there’s a quality line-up of horse races, while racegoers will be flocking to the Knavesmire on the Thursday of the meeting to attend the Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks & Ladies Day.

The Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe forms part of Day Three, with the Sky Bet Ebor being on the Saturday of the meeting. There’s some big prize money available, with over £1 million up for grabs when it comes to the Juddmonte International Stakes, while the Yorkshire Oaks on Day Two takes place over one mile and four furlongs.

There will be plenty of talented fillies competing when it comes to this race, with the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes taking pride of place on Day Three and this Group One encounter will be flanked by Group Two contests in the form of the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup and the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Grimcrack Stakes.

There’s another Group 2 contest in the form of the Sky Bet City of York Stakes where the runners and riders competing over seven furlongs, while the day opens with the Strensall Stakes. The Sky Bet Ebor is also a star attraction, with the runners and riders competing over one mile and four furlongs in what should be an entertaining encounter.

2023 Ebor Festival Best Betting Odds

The high quality flat horse racing meetings continue to come thick and fast, with the 2023 Ebor Festival looming large on the horizon. The action gets underway on Wednesday 23 August, with the Great Voltigeur Stakes giving punters the chance to watch Gregory and Adelaide River in action, while the Juddmonte International Stakes also makes this an attractive encounter.

The latter race involved Paddington putting a winning record on the line, with Aidan O’Brien training a runner and the horse is set to clash with Mostahdaf a talented five-year-old who could go off as favourite. If that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, then the next day of the Ebor Festival brings the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes, with this being a Group 2 encounter over six furlongs.

On Day Two, we also have the Clipper Handicap and there’s then the exciting Yorkshire Oaks over one mile and four furlongs, with Soul Sister the recent winner of the Oaks and perhaps we’ll see the John & Thady Gosden-trained runner going hard against Emily Upjohn over a middle distance, while Savethelastdance making the race a hot one.

On Day Three of the Ebor Festival, we have the Lonsdale Cup where Courage Mon Ami will look to continue a winning run, while the Dubai Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 encounter where trainer Adrian Murray could hold the aces in the form of Bucanero Forte and Valiant Force. There are lots of bookmakers who now have antepost horse racing odds available.

2022 Ebor Festival Betting

There is so much to enjoy about going through each of the four race cards that comprise the Yorkshire Ebor meeting and picking out the horses that you want to back for victory. Many of the races are Group 1 and several others are highly competitive.

Wednesday 17 August

The 2022 Ebor Festival kicks off on Wednesday, with the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes and Juddmonte International Stakes taking centre stage. Changingoftheguard is the favourite to land a victory in the former, with Aidan O’Brien looking to rack up plenty of victories at the Knavesmire and this represents a decent chance.

Francesco Clemente and Secret State are other runners who are likely to be popular each-way selections, while Baaeed looks like the horse that is going to take all the beating when it comes to the Juddmonte International Stakes. William Haggas’ unbeaten runner is likely to clash with Midriff and we could see a titanic tussle.

Thursday 18 August

The Sky Bet Lowther Stakes, Clipper Logistics Handicap and Darley Yorkshire Oaks are three of the biggest races on a brilliant York racecourse card, with punters once again enjoying the chance to get horse racing free bets and odds boosts for each race.

Dramatised and Meditate are among the front runners for the Lowther Stakes, with Aidan O’Brien training the latter and there could be the added ingredient of Mawj lining up and he has shown some excellent performances this season.

The Clipper Logistics Handicap will see Jimi Hendrix and Saga lock horns over one mile, with Shining Blue and Golden Voice also among the leading contenders, with the Darley Yorkshire Oaks pitching some of the best fillies in the land.

Emily Upjohn has been a bright performer this term and John Gosden will hope that this mare is able to get the better of her competitors over one mile and four furlongs, with Tuesday potentially offering the stiff opposition.

Friday 19 August

The Lonsdale Cup Stakes is one of the most high-profile horse races that takes place on Day Three of the Ebor meeting, with Trueshan, Long Eagle and Mojo Star one of the highest-rated horses in the field, while there could be some competition in the form of Stradivarius and Kyprios.

The 2022 Nunthorpe Stakes is the highlight race of Day Three, with Royal Aclaim trading as a fairly strong favourite. James Tate could have a superstar on his hands and the Irish-bred horse has already landed wins at Bath and York this season, with a victory coming in the John Smith’s City Walls Stakes.

Saturday 20 August

We have the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap that takes place on Day Four of the 2022 Ebor Festival, with Earl Of Tyrone having landed three straight wins and the four-year-old heads the betting market for an encounter over one mile and six furlongs.

Gaassee is another interesting runner that is trained by William Haggas, with the same handler having Candleford lining up and the horse will have plenty to prove after an underwhelming performance last time out.

On the Saturday of the Ebor Festival, we also have the Sky Bet City of York Stakes and it’s the final opportunity for punters to compare the latest horse racing odds and place bets.

Racing Highlights

The Ebor Festival is held over four days, running from Wednesday to Saturday inclusive. Here are some of the big races to look out for.

• Day 1 – Juddmonte International Stakes, Group 1, 1m 2f 56y
• Day 1 – Great Voltigeur Stakes, Group 2, 1m 3f 188y
• Day 2 – Yorkshire Oaks, Group 1, 1m 3f 188y
• Day 3 – Nunthorpe Stakes, Group 1, 5f
• Day 3 – Gimcrack Stakes, Group 2, 6f
• Day 4 – Ebor Handicap, Handicap, 1m 5f 188y

The feature races on each of the four days are obviously huge races and the focus for many a casual punter. The first three of these are high class Group 1 affairs and for many the pick of the lot is the Juddmonte. This is the richest race York holds all season and that attracts the best of the best. The great Frankel won this in 2012, with the brilliant Australia victorious in 2014.

Day Two’s feature is the Yorkshire Oaks and takes place on the Ebor’s Ladies’ Day. This race dates back to 1849 and is frequently the highest rated mares and fillies showdown anywhere. This one unsurprisingly often sees horses who featured in the Epsom Oaks, with Enable (2017) one of a number of horses to do the double.

The fastest and shortest race of the Festival is the highlight of Day Three at York and the Nunthorpe is a five furlong charge for the speedballs. This race is almost 100 years old, having been founded in 1922, and boasts a prize of around £200,000 for the winner. Not bad for less than a minute’s racing!

The final day sees the eponymous Ebor Handicap, which was first run way back in 1843. This can’t match the others for quality but in terms of history and excitement it is hard to beat and is a brilliant way to end the Ebor Festival.

The Course

York is arguably the premier racecourse in the north of England and is owned by York Racecourse Knavesmire. The Knavesmire is the colloquial name for the course and more specifically, since medieval times, the land on which it lies. York is a modern course with excellent facilities and, in terms of overall prize money, the third largest in the UK. It lies to the south west of the city and is easily accessible by rail and then bus or shuttle, whilst fitter visitors can easily walk from the city centre to the track.

York is exclusively used for Flat fixtures, with meetings taking place between May and October. In 2005 it stood in for the Royal Ascot meeting due to Ascot’s renovations and is ideal for galloping horses. There are no real undulations and the turns are wide and gentle, with a straight course for races up to six furlongs. There is no major draw bias and the long run-in means any style of runner can triumph.

The Ebor History

York is a city packed with history and so is the racecourse. It is believed that racing first took place in York more than 2,000 years ago in Roman times under the Emperor Severus. There are records of more modern racing as far back as 1530, whilst racing at the Knavesmire began in 1731.

Within 10 years the Ebor Festival, known then as the August race week, was the highlight of the local social calendar. York built the world’s first ever grandstand in the middle of the 18th century but it wasn’t until 1843 that the Ebor Festival was officially created.

That came with the inaugural running of the Ebor Handicap that year. The race and of course the meeting, take their name from the Roman name for York, Eboracum. The Ebor Handicap was initially called the Great Ebor Handicap and was run over two miles before being shortened by around two furlongs.

There have been many changes to the race, the course and the meeting over the years. However, with the eponymous contest the richest flat handicap on the continent, there is no doubting the quality of the racing at the Ebor.