In the first of a two-part Turf Talk special, York Racecourse chief executive William Derby looks at the key races at this month’s Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival. This week the spotlight falls on the Juddmonte International and the totesport Ebor Handicap.

THE plan to supplement Harbinger, last month’s King George VI hero at Ascot, has given the Juddmonte International a real shot in the arm, reckons William Derby.

“It’s worth saying that he’s the highest rated racehorse in the world so for a horse of that quality to take on three times Group 1 winner Twice Over, Byword, who won the big race at Royal Ascot, and also Rip Van Winkle, from Aidan O’Brien’s stable, is tremendous,” he said.

“The race has a real feel of quality about it. The prize fund, with the supplementary (£50,000 the owners of Harbinger must pay for him to enter the race), will be nigh on £700,000 so it is again the richest race we have ever staged.

“We are delighted that the race continues to build and there are real contenders in there. Harbinger’s win at Ascot was an incredible demolition of a very top quality field.

“The English Derby winner Workforce, the Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco, both of whom had run in the totesport Dante, were there and he just demolished them. To have an 11-length victory, eased down, was just incredible.

“He’s unbeaten this year and he could be the real thing. He was last in the Great Voltigeur Stakes last year, but I think I am right in saying there were excuses. He knocked himself in the stalls and he got no sort of a run.

“It has the makings of being a fabulous contest. A contest which is really interesting because you can take different opinions on different horses and there is real quality of horses.

“It is our flagship race, our highest rated race, and each year it throws up a different story and a different interest. It is certainly fascinating at this stage and we just hope they all stand their ground.”

He added: “There is the prize fund, the way the race is framed and time it is framed. There is the investment that we make in encouraging people to consider running their horses. We want to see the best horses run here.

“One of things that was so nice about last year was that Sea The Stars’ trainer John Oxx said that of all the overseas races he ran in his favourite experience was at York. That’s a great tribute to the city and to the racegoers here.”


Ebor fun – the top talk of York

SYNONYMOUS with York, the totesport Ebor Handicap is the race which gets the punters going. William Derby says it’s a contest the racecourse really treasures.

“It is the richest handicap in the northern hemisphere on he Flat and it always produces a fantastic story,” he said. “There will be a full field of 20 and there is usually a scrabble to get into the race.

“That’s been the noticeable thing – that the ratings have changed and increased over the years.

“We had a fantastic contest last year between Changingoftheguard, a three-year-old up-and-coming Aidan O’Brien horse, and an older filly, Sesenta, coming from Ireland. I think there were five in a line in a photo (Sesenta won).

“It’s a real competitive race, it is part of the flagship and it’s something of which we are hugely proud.

“It has a great relationship to the Melbourne Cup, which is the richest handicap of all.

“If you are not rated more than 100 you are going to struggle to get in.

“We know the quality is there and every horse has a chance. It makes it an intriguing prospect, spectacle and betting contest.

“It is something we treasure and want to take forward.

“Purple Moon, who could line up, has won here before and went on to get just touched off by a short head in the Melbourne Cup. He is probably on that same path again.

“That horse is a real trouper and has a very enthusiastic owner and Luca Cumani, the trainer, has a very good record in the race. Deauville Flyer, representing North Yorkshire, has won here twice and, if he gets in, will have a real chance off a low weight.

“His trainer Tim Easterby is in a rich vein of form this summer and it would fabulous if he gets in. The totesport Ebor Handicap is a real racing enthusiast’s race.

“It is a race we are very proud of and people have been plotting for this race for months and months. It will be interesting who lines up on the day and how it turns out.”