Pride of Yorkshire
The four-day Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival is the jewel in the crown of York Racecourse's season with pride of place going to the £650,000 Juddmonte International, won by Sea The Stars last year. We look ahead to the 2010 edition.
The Yorkshire Pudding, the flat cap, Geoffrey Boycott and Last of the Summer Wine – no doubt some of Yorkshire's finest exports. However, later this month betting shops across the length and breadth of Britain will get their fill of all things from the white rose county in the form of the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, one of racing's most traditional and eagerly awaited meetings.
York's famous Knavesmire venue will be centre stage, captivating racegoers from across the county and beyond. Its pedigree ensures the strongest fields assemble, carrying a weight of expectation from passionate punters and racing enthusiasts alike. Those expectations are high following on from last year's majestic performance by Sea the Stars who collected from Mastercraftsman in an encounter of epic proportions. Admittedly the John Oxx-trained colt went off at 1/4 so the writing was on the wall for his rivals but a hard-fought finish and his own star status ensured the crowd was never going to be disappointed.
James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship at York Racecourse, remembers it like it was yesterday: 'It was one of those "Were you there the day…?" types of moment,' he says. 'All of the winners are fantastic but every so often something a bit special comes around and the reaction that the crowd gave Sea the Stars proved they'd seen one of the greats. It was a real once-in-a-generation winner and that was a great thing to be associated with. We look forward to seeing who's going to try and fill his hooves this year.'
This year's Juddmonte, the feature race on day one, boasts record prize money of £650,000 and Brennan is anticipating something special once more: 'It's a race that's highest rated in the UK and in the global top ten and you can see that with the quality of entrants. All of the main contenders are entered up for it. We understand that connections of Workforce are targeting the King George at Ascot, if plans change and he comes to us or he does both, then we'll certainly welcome him as it needs to be a special horse to win the Juddmonte.'
One of the great betting heats comes in the form of the Totesport Ebor which always prove to be a challenge for punters and bookmakers alike. Recent years have proved torrid for the punters with a 100/1 winner in the form of Jane Chapple-Hyam's Mudawin in 2006 and a pair of 25/1 shots in the last two years, including overseas winner Sesenta last time out.
On-course bookmaker Joe Huddlestone will be keen for a repeat this time round: 'Sesenta saved us last year otherwise it would have been a very disappointing Festival. Away from the handicap a lot of the fancied horses triumphed making it difficult for us,' he says. 'It remains my favourite racecourse and I've been attending it as a punter and bookmaker for 30 years – they do most things brilliantly.
'I think the fourth day is going to take some getting used to as there are now less races per day but I think that will come with time. Barring Cheltenham it's still the highlight of my year and I'm reliant on having a good Festival as the year is based around that. This year has been harder than last year because of the recession but hopefully the warmer weather may bring people back to the track and we'll have a good Ebor.'
Betting shops will be also hopeful of a healthy return although local bookmaker Paul Salkelb of Embassy Racing in York isn't holding out too much hope: 'If anything it works the other way round as a lot of my horse racing punters actually go to the meeting,' he says. 'I've got two shops and one of them is particularly hit as they all head up the racecourse, the other one holds its own though. There's a pub opposite me that does bed and breakfast so I tend to get quite a few of their guests coming over in the morning and placing their bets.
'As a bookmaker though we look forward to these big meetings as we've got so much average racing it's nice to have some good racing from time to time. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Ebor as I remember as a youngster visiting the course and watching trainer Jeremy Tree collect a treble and I ended up backing all three!'
The Ebor Festival enjoys good sponsorship from the betting industry with Totesport taking the title race, Sky Bet sponsoring a host of races on the Friday and new sponsors Sportingbet proudly supporting the Great Voltigeur Stakes. James Brennan is delighted with the partnerships that have been formed: 'Sportingbet joined us last year for one of the big handicaps in the Dante Festival and a big handicap sprint in May for a couple of years,' he says. 'But this is the first time we can welcome them to the Ebor Festival. They've taken on the Voltieger – a contest that's already seen 13 horses do the Knavesmire/Town Moor double. The top nine in the betting for the final classic are entered starting with Midas Touch, the Ballydoyle representation and a good number from Godolphin.'
He adds: 'The support of the betting industry continues to be excellent. We also have Sky Bet on board who have a record with us for backing new days. They supported the late July date which clashed with King George Day. People questioned the decision but we felt that there was room for a great race day in the North to please the racegoers' appetite and 36,000 came and watched. We hope these partnerships will encourage other betting partners to come forward.'
