The Ebor Festival four-day racing festival held at York Racecourse in each August was first established in 1843 with the first running of the Ebor Handicap.
Originally a 3-day race meeting, now a 4-day racing festival, the Ebor Festival in August features the Juddmonte International, the Yorkshire Oaks, Nunthorpe Stakes and of course, the Ebor Handicap itself which attracts plenty of Ebor betting.
Today the Ebor Festival is one of the biggest meetings on the UK racing fixtures calendar and the race meeting is regarded as York racecourse’s flagship event. Each of the four days has a multitude of feature races.
As one of the last major race meetings of the UK Flat racing season, The Ebor Festival attracts racegoers from all over the UK and overseas and of course the best horses and jockeys.
Day 1 features the Juddmonte International, Great Voltigeur Stakes and Acomb Stakes. In recent years the 1 mile 2 furlong Juddmonte International has been won by some of the best middle-distance horses in Europe: Sea The Stars, Authorised and Frankel.
Day 2 of The Ebor Festival at York Racecourse is Ladies Day, and a day that combines top fashion in the grandstands with the racing excitement on the track. The feature races on Ladies Day are the Lowther Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks.
Day 3 features the Nunthorpe Stakes, Gimcrack Stakes and Strensall Stakes. The Nunthorpe Stakes is where the world’s best sprinters compete, while the Yorkshire Oaks attracts some of the best thoroughbred fillies in training today.
Day 4 is Ebor Day featuring the famous Ebor Handicap and Lonsdale Cup. The Ebor Handicap is the focus point of the whole Ebor Festival when many top horses compete to add their names to the roll of honour of this famous handicap – horses such as the great Sea Pigeon.
A tilt at an historic third Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe will be the main focus of Enable after it was confirmed recently that the John Gosden-trained filly will stay in training in 2019.
The International Stakes at York's Ebor meeting next August, a race sponsored by her owner’s Juddmonte Stud, might also be a 2019 target for Enable even though, at 1m 2f, it is a race run over a distance short of her best.