York Racecourse is all set to stage the Sky Bet Ebor Festival 2024, one of the best race meetings in the world, brimming with top-class racing action, fashion, hospitality and a fabulous live sporting event atmosphere.

With a few weeks to go until the flagship meeting gets underway, we set the scene at the Racecourse which was voted UK ‘Racecourse of the Year’ from both the Racegoers Club for three consecutive years, and one that holds the Racehorse Owners Association Gold Standard.

An occasion that is set to stage the richest ever race run on the Knavesmire, the £1.25m Group One Juddmonte International. At this stage the intended runners include Europe’s highest rated 3yo horse, the Derby winner City of Troy, trained by Aidan O’Brien; as well as the impressive Japanese raider, Durezza.

Valuable race programme designed to attract the best in the world

York Racecourse is delighted that the race programme and prize money on offer for the Sky Bet Ebor Festival (Wednesday 21 to Saturday 24 August) is at a record £6.84m, being £450,000 more than was on offer last year. 

The theme of record prize money continues to many other races, notably for the £500,000 Group Two Sky Bet City of York Stakes which is the richest racecourse-funded Group Two in the country as it offers Group One level prize money.

The Sky Bet Ebor continues to be the richest flat handicap in Britain at £500,000 with seven further Heritage Handicaps having a six-figure purse; including an eye-catching recent opportunity for the sprinters in the £100,000 Sky Bet Constantine Handicap on Saturday.

The Sky Bet Melrose for three-year-olds offers record prize money, being £150,000, as they contest the Ebor trip on Saturday, with the winner assuring their berth in the Sky Bet Ebor of 2025.

Celebrating the memory of Harry Beeby, the Goffs Sales Race will offer £500,000.

The minimum prize for any race will be £100,000. Consequently, this means the richest nursery and maiden in Britain form part of the programme. 

This ambitious commitment by the York Race Committee is designed to help attract the best horses and jockeys to York, support Britain’s position as a leading racing jurisdiction and support the vital international investment in the sport at an elite level. It could well be rewarded with runners from Australia, the Czech Republic as well as France and that Japanese star.

Expect to see a host of world-class jockeys competing for top honours at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival.  

The global nature of the top-quality competition is reflected with the three Group Ones all being part of both the QIPCO British Champions Series and the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series – the latter of which are ‘Win and You’re In’ races for the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar Racetrack in California in November. This year they have been joined by the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes, linking the juveniles with a run in the USA.

The Juddmonte International and Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks also attract huge bonuses from the JRA for the winner to go to race in Japan. 

Given the strong partnership between York Racecourse and Victoria Racing Club, and the record of horses making the trip from the Knavesmire to Flemington, it is the only European contest to have been granted the “ballot exempt” status for the Lexus Melbourne Cup. The connection to down-under is cemented with the Juddmonte International winner being given a golden ticket and travel expenses for the prestigious Cox Plate, staged at Moonee Valley.

The Sky Bet Strensall is nominated as an automatic invitation race to the Bahrain International Trophy. All these global alliances and partnerships serve to further cement the Ebor Festival’s growing global profile and reach, as well as underlining the international nature of elite horseracing.  

The first three days of the Sky Bet Ebor Festival will be World Pool Events in a continuation of the ground-breaking partnership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club. World Pool ensures there are larger and deeper pools, smoother pricing and will drive an increase in value for customers, both on course at York - as well as racing fans from around the world – who bet into a single pool. World Pool has performed strongly at other UK Flat Festivals, as international customers become more familiar with the horses and context of European contests and via racecourses and stakeholders working closely on optimising the race programmes to ensure 7+ runners where possible (ensuring all bet types are available) and new marketing and TV production initiatives.

For those who seek to inform their bets with the latest weather conditions, then York offers near real time data from the weather station located at the one-furlong mark. A quick link from the going report page of the website will provide all the  information on rainfall, wind and more besides.

Away from the track a race meeting to cherish, celebrate and enjoy

The Sky Bet Ebor Community Sweepstake is a £46,000 innovative initiative which seeks to celebrate and reward some of the many Yorkshire charities and community groups who serve our White Rose communities and neighbours. Earlier in the summer, working with our partners at Sky Bet, we invited applications from local charities and community groups who made their case for how they would use a £20,000 donation. Out of the many entries, we will shortlist 22 who will all be invited to a VIP Day out at York on Saturday 24 August. They will each be assigned a runner in the Sky Bet Ebor and the good cause attached to the winning horse will receive that £20,000 award. The second placed horse will benefit their good cause to the tune of £5,000, with £2,000 to the third and each of the other contenders still benefiting from a £1,000 donation.

On all four days, standside racegoers will be able to watch and participate in the Grantley Hall Ebor Fashion Lawn. No need to pre-register or book, any racegoer on standside is invited to pop along between 12.30pm - 2.30pm, walk the catwalk, and have the opportunity to win some fabulous prizes whilst having a great time with their party. The eye-catching, flower-clad catwalk is set in the picturesque surroundings in front of the Edwardian Weighing Room. A panel of judges will cast an expert eye over the preparations and attire before them and will be ready to decide winners on each day. Throughout the week, the most stylish in a number of categories will win a range of prizes, courtesy of the headline sponsor, as well as fashion partner, The 8th Sign. With the further support of Sky Bet offering a day out to the English Football League and The Potions Cauldron some treats, for the younger generation. A rising star of the millinery world, Georgina Durdy, will be on hand to help assess the style and match hats to outfits, with her regular co-host Ben Fry of YorkMix Radio.

The first five races on each of the four days will be broadcast live on the ITV main channel, headed by Ed Chamberlin, as part of the outside broadcast team assembled from the BAFTA winning broadcaster. The team that will bring pictures of all the action and every aspect of the Ebor Festival to the armchairs of the nation and around the world.  

Racing TV are covering all 28 races of the Sky Bet Ebor Festival live, fronted by former Racing Broadcasters of the Year Nick Luck and Lydia Hislop, including ‘Mark Your Card’ live from the track each day. 

The Sky Bet Ebor Festival will have a significant international broadcast presence with coverage across the globe including the Sky network in Australia,  Fanduel to the USA, the Green Channel in Japan, Dubai TV into the Middle East, Equidia in France.

Off the track the excitement builds

Regular visitors to the Knavesmire will have seen the ongoing investment in the facilities for horses, participants and racegoers at York. This commitment to improve the experience of racing at York continues with the focus being the area that lies to the south of the Knavesmire Stand and behind the Bustardthorpe Stand. For the festival racegoers will be able to see a multi-million pound project that improves this area for Grandstand & Paddock racegoers. The Roberto Pavilion provides a fast-serve bar, a fish & chip shop and a cocktail/Pimms bar. As well as Tote & William Hill outlets. The Churchill Tyres Lawn and Canopy should be a great spot to relax and enjoy the food outlets and improved Theakston Bar that will flank it. A state-of-the-art William Hill betting shop has reopened, with a new block of toilets. In keeping with the Green Knavesmire 300 commitment, a host of sustainability features have been embedded; a living roof, rainwater harvesting, solar panels and flowerbeds of RHS pollinators.

Equine ambassador to York, the award-winning Remy (formerly Goldream), will be present all days to let racegoers meet a real racehorse.

For those wanting to learn a little more about the workings of the sport, Robert Earnshaw the Gold Cup winning rider and recently retired Clerk of the Scales, will host a free tour of the Weighing Room at 11.15am each day, as well as guide  a minibus of racegoers on trips to the starts.

The “Jockey Gym” sited in the Clocktower Enclosure is one of a number of activities that will hope to introduce the riders to a wider audience.

Away from the track, a brigade of some 80 chefs, backed by a wider raceday team of over two thousand staff, will provide the welcome, services and treats that come with a major sporting event. Seafood will be delivered from the Yorkshire coast every morning including 2,000 crabs, joining Dales lamb and 3,000 home-made beefburgers, Hawes cheeses, 6,000 fresh baked fruit scones and locally made dairy ice cream, on the various menus. A plant based take on many dishes is available. Ebor Festival racegoers will also discover the refurbished Alcoves Bar and the reimagined Wine & Cheese section of the Edwardian Weighing Room.

In terms of betting on course, there will be over 130 bookmakers taking bets, three main William Hill shops and over 180 tote outlets.

Partners support the meeting with Lanson Black Label  champagne priced at £65, Moët et Chandon Brut Imperial NV at £72 and selected bars stocking York’s house champagne, Gardet Origine, at £43

York is proud of its flowers and floral displays, growing many of its plants from seed or seedling, in the last cycle of awards it won a RHS Yorkshire in Bloom Gold Award.  Head Gardner Zac Rafferty recently completed an RHS Masters course and has been invited to be a judge for the RHS.

Very much a popular regular, the Ebor Festival this year will see the ‘selfie flower wall’ joined by the free 360-degree selfie camera operating from by the parade ring for racegoers to show off their fashion and capture the moment on social media.  To make it easier to share these images or to send pictures of the new development of the chefs in full flow in the main restaurants, or simply to capture the feel-good factor, racegoers will be able to use the free Wi-Fi service installed at the track by local tech firm, York Data Services.

Over the week, those seeking musical entertainment will have much choice as Yorkshire-based jazz bands, Irish foot stompin’ bands and a traditional brass band perform on the Edwardian Weighing Room Lawn and to the south of the Knavesmire Stand. The Monotones will play to racegoers after the last race into the early evening on each of the four racedays. 

On each of Friday and Saturday, parachute display team, the RAF Falcons, are set to drop in to add to the celebrations.

There will be a record number of nine giant screens relaying the action in HD quality, including screens overlooking the both the Frankel, Veuve Clicquot and Roberto Lawns. There will be a dedicated stop-watch big screen capturing race times and seeing if any of our track records can be lowered.

William Derby, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course, concluded “The Sky Bet Ebor Festival is simply the highlight of our year, with the prospect of some spectacular racing action. We are all working towards our flagship and cannot wait to welcome everybody to the Knavesmire. I very much hope racegoers, connections, bettors and viewers will enjoy the feast on offer.”