The York Ebor Festival is a four-day meeting staged Wednesday – Saturday at York Racecourse in York, North Yorkshire in August. The meeting takes its name from that of the Ebor Handicap, a prestigious ‘Heritage Handicap’ run over a mile and three-quarters and currently worth £500,000 in total prize money, which is the feature race on the fourth and final day. The race, in turn, takes its name from ‘Eboracum’ the Roman name for the settlement that became the present-day city of York.
A prestigious and valuable Group 1 race forms the highlight of each of the first three days of the York Ebor Festival. On the opening Wednesday, the Juddmonte International Stakes is run over a mile and a quarter, open to horses aged three years and upwards and currently worth £1.32 million in total prize money; its recent roll of honour includes two of the top 10 horses since World War II, according to Timeform, Sea The Stars (2009) and Frankel (2012).
The Yorkshire Oaks, run over a mile and a half, open to fillies and mares aged three years and upwards and currently worth £600,000 in total prize money, takes centre stage on day two. The 2025 winner, Minnie Hauk, trained by Aidan O’Brien, supplemented her previous victories in the Oaks and Irish Oaks and subsequently finished second, beaten just a head in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, for which she started favourite.
On the Friday, the out-and-out speedsters enjoy the limelight in the Nunthorpe Stakes, which has been won down the years by the likes of Abernant, Sharpo, Habibti, Dayjur and Battaash, to name but a handful of illustrious winners. Run over a perfectly flat five furlongs and open to horses aged two years and upwards – the last two-year-old to win was, in fact, Kingsgate Native in 2007 – the Nunthorpe Stakes is currently worth £697,000 in total prize money.