York Ebor Festival Weekend Betting Guide: Nunthorpe Day and Sky Bet Ebor Day
The Sky Bet Ebor Festival closes out its four days on the Knavesmire this weekend, and the two biggest cards of the meeting are still to come. Friday brings the Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes, Europe's fastest five furlong dash, while Saturday stacks the Group 1 Sky Bet City Of York Stakes on top of the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap, the richest flat handicap on the continent. Eighteen sprinters go to post in the Nunthorpe, a maximum field lines up for the Ebor, and an American raider sits at the top of Friday's market. Here is everything we like across both days, with fractional odds throughout.
Friday: Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes (Group 1)
Five furlongs, 3.35pm York, 18 declared. This is the fastest race in Europe and it is loaded with international class this year. Wesley Ward's Bacio heads the market at 3/1 with Sky Bet after a dominant Palace Of Holyroodhouse Handicap win at Royal Ascot, where he made all and pulled three and three quarter lengths clear of a big field. He steps up from handicap company into Group 1 sprinting off the back of an excellent timefigure and a visual impression that has punters convinced he is the real deal.
Defending champion Asfoora is next in the market at 9/2. The Australian mare is racing what connections have confirmed will be the final start of her career before she heads home to stud, and she already knows exactly how to win this race, having landed it twelve months ago. She was only beaten a length and a quarter in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood last time, a promising level of form to bring into a swansong.
Rayevka is our idea of the value in this race at 5/1. Francis Henri Graffard's filly was beaten only a head by Mission Central in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot and has been kept fresh for this assignment ever since. She wants fast ground and a sharp five furlongs, both of which this track and the forecast showers should still allow, and she has a turn of foot that the rest of this field simply does not possess. American Affair rounds out the top of the market at 6/1 off the back of a King George Qatar Stakes win at Goodwood, and he arrives with course and distance form that most of his rivals lack.
Mission Central, Pershaada, Night Raider and Rumstar are all in around 12/1, with the remainder, including Cover Up, Redorange, Starlust, Time For Sandals, Jm Jungle, Partisan Hero, Heavenly Heather, Ain't Nobody, Azure Angel and Fitzella, no shorter than 16/1. Pershaada is the one youngster to note in that group. The Richard Hannon-trained two year old thrashed her field in the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood and gets a stone or more in weight from her elders, a huge slice of assistance for a filly with serious natural speed. Only Lyric Fantasy has managed to win this race as a juvenile since 1992, but she is unexposed enough to be respected at a big price.
Our tip: American Affair each way at 6/1. He owns proven course and distance form that Bacio, Rayevka and most of this field cannot match, he is fresh off a Group win at Goodwood, and nine of the last twelve Nunthorpe winners have come from stall eight or lower and had at least one previous run at York. Rayevka is workable each way cover at 5/1 if you want to take a stance against the favourite.
Friday's Supporting Card
A dozen go to post for the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack Stakes over six furlongs, with unbeaten Rose Bowl Stakes winner Arapaho Gold heading the market ahead of Adaay Of Scarlett, Mrair and Ballydoyle's Marco Polo. Nine line up in the Group 2 Weatherbys Lonsdale Cup over two miles, where Caballo De Mar tries to put a below-par Royal Ascot run behind him.
Saturday: Sky Bet City Of York Stakes (Group 1)
Seven furlongs, 3.00pm York, the newest Group 1 of the festival and Britain's only race at the top level over this trip. Charlie Appleby's Notable Speech heads the market at 3/1 after a change of plan saw connections swerve the Prix Jacques le Marois in favour of this drop back in distance. He was a below-par sixth in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last time, but he owns Group 1 form at this trip already and Appleby believes he has the gears to cope with the step back down.
William Haggas' Lake Forest is next at 4/1 on the back of a Lennox Stakes win over course and distance at Goodwood, though he was markedly less effective when stepped up to a mile in the Sussex Stakes just a day later. Eve Johnson Houghton's Zavateri is 5/1 to add a second Group 1 to his CV following last year's National Stakes win, returning with an encouraging fifth in the Sussex after over three months off. Ten Bob Tony, the Queen Anne winner, is 7/1, with Satono Reve and 1,000 Guineas winner True Love next at 10/1. Rogue Diplomat, beaten only a neck into second in the Lennox by Lake Forest, is 14/1, with Flora Of Bermuda, Paborus, Power Blue and Qirat around 16/1 and the rest out to 20/1 and bigger.
Our tip: Lake Forest each way at 4/1. His Lennox form over course and distance at this exact trip is the strongest piece of evidence in the race, and his Sussex Stakes flop came over a mile that stretched him. Back at seven furlongs he looks the one to beat if Notable Speech cannot bounce back from Ascot.
Saturday: Sky Bet Ebor Handicap
One mile six furlongs, 3.35pm York, Europe's richest flat handicap and a maximum field of 22. Andrew Balding's Tarriance heads the market at 7/1 after winning last year's Melrose Handicap over course and distance twelve months ago, a race that regularly produces Ebor form. William Haggas' Klassleader and Willie Mullins' Love Me Tender, ridden again by William Buick after finishing third for the yard twelve months ago aboard Ethical Diamond, are next in at 10/1, with Love Me Tender having been strongly supported in the market over the past few days.
Alan King's Royal Ascot winner Daiquiri Bay and Joseph O'Brien's Emit, the trainer's sole runner in the race after he confirmed last week that he would rely on him alone, are 11/1. Ian Williams' Cesarewitch winner Beylerbeyi, Hopewell Rock, Willie Mullins' Mr Hollywood and Opportunity are all around 12/1, with Mullins' Columbus and Gaucher, plus Square Necker, next in at 16/1. The notable absentee is Ascot Stakes winner Kizlyar, who had been cut into 10/1 second favouritism earlier in the week but was ultimately left out when 22 confirmations stood their ground on Thursday.
Our tip: Tarriance each way at 7/1. His Melrose Handicap win came over course and distance and this looks the obvious next step up in class for a horse who is clearly progressive. Daiquiri Bay is our alternative for each way cover given his Royal Ascot form in the Copper Horse.
American Connections at York This Weekend
The headline American story of the weekend is Bacio, the Wesley Ward-trained favourite for Friday's Nunthorpe Stakes. The three year old is by leading US sire Maclean's Music and races for the MyRaceHorse partnership, the crowdsourced ownership group that has become a familiar sight in the winner's enclosure on both sides of the Atlantic. He is ridden by Juan Hernandez, best known for his work in Southern California, and he arrives at York on the back of a statement performance in the Palace Of Holyroodhouse Handicap at Royal Ascot.
Ward has come agonisingly close to Nunthorpe glory before without ever getting over the line, memorably losing by a nose with Lady Aurelia in 2017, and neither Golden Pal nor Acapulco could land it either. Bacio represents his best chance yet to finally win the race that has eluded him. Whatever happens on Friday, the Nunthorpe winner earns an automatic Breeders' Cup Challenge berth in the Turf Sprint, so this result carries weight for the autumn as well as the here and now. American Affair, second favourite for the Nunthorpe at 6/1, is a reminder that not every name tells the full story. Despite the label, he is a home-bred for Ayrshire trainer Jim Goldie with no actual American connections at all.
Betting on the Ebor Festival
Whichever way you want to play this weekend at York, from the Nunthorpe sprint to the Ebor's cavalry charge, we have you covered.
Bet online at app.mywinners.com, on the MyWinners: Racing & Sports app on iOS or Android, or go here to find your nearest MyWinners or Winners venue in CT.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes is the feature race on Friday at York, off at 3.35pm. It is run over five furlongs and carries Group 1 status, with 18 horses declared for this year's renewal.
Wesley Ward's American raider Bacio is the 3/1 favourite with Sky Bet after a dominant win in the Palace Of Holyroodhouse Handicap at Royal Ascot. Defending champion Asfoora is next at 9/2, with Rayevka at 5/1 and American Affair at 6/1 also prominent in the market.
The Sky Bet Ebor Handicap is Europe's richest flat handicap, run over one mile six furlongs at York on the Saturday of the Ebor Festival. It carries a prize fund of £500,000 and a maximum field of 22 runners goes to post.
Yes. Wesley Ward's Bacio, an American-bred and American-raced colt by Maclean's Music, is the favourite for Friday's Nunthorpe Stakes. He is ridden by Juan Hernandez, who is best known for riding in Southern California, and races for the MyRaceHorse ownership group.
Saturday's card is headlined by the Group 1 Sky Bet City Of York Stakes over seven furlongs at 3pm, followed by the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap at 3.35pm. The Group 3 Sky Bet Strensall Stakes and the Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes also feature on the card.
