York Racecourse is delighted that the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes has been recognised as the joint Best Sprint Race in the world during 2017.

The fastest race of the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival was won by Marsha in a photo finish from US superstar, Lady Aurelia. This pair plus the highly regarded Battaash and Cotai Glory secured the five furlong York race a score of 120, meaning it shared the global top spot for sprints with the Darley July Cup; won over the six furlongs of Newmarket’s summer track by Harry Angel.

The good news came at the LONGINES World's Best Horse Race Ceremony, held in London on 24 January, when the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) published its annual list of top 100 races. The ranked list is compiled using the annual race ratings, which are calculated based on the first four finishers in each race.

Further accolades came the way of York, with the Group 1 Juddmonte International being the joint Best Race over 10 furlongs in Europe; the £1 million showcase was won by Ulysses on the opening day of the August meeting.  Demonstrating the intense competition at the elite level, the York race shared seventh place in the global rankings with both the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Qipco backed Champion Stakes which is appropriately staged on British Champions Day.

All three of the Group 1 races held at York merited leading status, with the Darley Yorkshire Oaks ranking as the Best Race for fillies and mares in Great Britain, which is a further tribute to Enable, the superstar filly owned by Prince Khalid Abdulla, who landed this race as part of her five – in - a row Group 1 winning sequence.

The profile of the three races is interlinked with the high quality of the horses that ran at York during 2017; in overview, seven of the top ten highest ranked horses in Europe, were seen on the Knavesmire during the last twelve months.

Commenting on these achievements, William Derby, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course said, “This is further confirmation of the quality of racing at York. It is great news for racegoers as we believe success breeds success and we are already looking forward to August 2018 for the next staging of these top races.”