The four fantastic days of the Sky Bet Ebor Festival came to a close on Saturday 26 August with Absurde in the last York ride for Frankie Dettori, winning the £500,000 Sky Bet Ebor.

This success, meant that Sheffield Voices were the winning charity in the Sky Bet Ebor Community Sweepstake, receiving a donation of £20,000 towards the learning disability arm of Disability Sheffield - a self-advocacy group that supports people to have a say about issues that affect them.

The preceding weekdays had produced a notable champion in each of the Group One contests. Mostahdaf was victorious in both the flagship race at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival and Royal Ascot and ranks as the second highest racehorse in the world.  Partnered on the Knavesmire by Frankie Dettori in his last meeting at York, taking a record sixth winner in the Juddmonte International. Warm Heart continued to improve when winning the Group One Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks, a filly who will give trainer Aidan O’Brien a warm chance in the Breeders’ Cup in California come November.  On Friday, a fairy tale result in the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe delivered on the promise in his name as Live In The Dream gave both his Epsom trainer, Adam West, and rider, Sean Kirrane, a debut Group One. The sheer joy of his owners, Steve & Jolene de’Lemos provided one of the abiding memories of the Ebor Festival.

Significantly, hospitality was sold out for all four days, with both on course betting and food/drinks sales, increasing by 10%.

A record investment in prize money of £6.4m (+£400k on 2022) across the Ebor Festival delivered fantastic racing action with an increase in runners to a record  363, making an average field size of 12.96

Commenting on the Sky Bet Ebor Festival, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course William Derby said; “The whole team at York can reflect proudly on a hugely enjoyable Sky Bet Ebor Festival, where world class racing and enthusiastic and knowledgeable racegoers made for a wonderful atmosphere. The farewell four days for Frankie Dettori provided stories that even Frankie must only have dreamt of, taking the feature races on both Wednesday (Juddmonte International) and Saturday (Sky Bet Ebor). Our thanks to everyone who supported the meeting and made for such a memorable week. In the end, even the weather played its part, meaning everyone could enjoy the top-class racing and everything else the Sky Bet Ebor Festival had to offer. Despite the economic headwinds, we are delighted that the York Race Committee took a long-term view to invest all data and betting related media rights, including from World Pool, back into prize money. It was rewarded by such fantastic racing, large field sizes and a real buzz.  We hope everyone enjoyed the showpiece, whether they were with us or following from afar.”