2025 York Ebor Meeting Notes: 10 to follow…
… and that’s now the York Ebor Meeting securely tucked away in the form book for the 2025 season…
The last of the major multi-day flat festivals for this season, although still plenty more to come before the flat season shuts down in late autumn…
After a ‘bad Goodwood’ I had an ‘excellent Ebor’… the highlight definitely being the Saturday action, where I landed 3 of the 4 races I covered for full NTF members (you can see more of that on this page>>>)…
As is generally the case with these multi-day festivals, the York Ebor meeting is a great meeting to trawl through the results and replays, looking for ‘horses to follow’ over the coming weeks and months…
Which is exactly what I’ve done in this post… with a chunky TEN horses highlighted for you… ten horses that, for various reasons, caught my eye with a view to pulling in profits on coming starts…
2025 York Ebor Meeting Notes
📆 Wednesday 20th August
⭕ 1:50 York – 5.5f Class 2 Handicap
🏇 3rd – AIR FORCE ONE
PJ McDonald had to fiddle his way through from the back in this sprint and he had to make a decision whether to go right or go left at the 2-furlong pole when he found his route blocked… he decided to go right and that probably cost him his chance at going for the win here, with the main action happening on the other side (far side) and the two that finished ahead of him poaching a few lengths on him as he navigated some traffic on the near side… he tried to latch on to the 1st and the 2nd by crossing over to their side once he was through the near side traffic but he ran out of room and the line came too soon for him… the 1st, 2nd & 4th all made their moves on the far side, with AIR FORCE ONE the first home of those challenging on the near side, and despite that he still managed to post a comfortable career best on the figures, even with the traffic troubles to contend with… he’s clearly still very much on the up after only 9 career starts (only 6 in Handicap company) and despite being put up 3lbs to OR 87 for this run, he’s likely still got a bit to go yet before he reaches the ceiling of his abilities…
⭕ 4:45 York – 5.5f Class 2 Fillies Handicap
🏇 7th – GALAXY ZOO
Ralph Beckett’s 3yo reared slightly as the gates opened and also got a bump from one drawn next to her, putting her on the back foot from the off and unable to make any real headway until the final furlong… given her tardy start this 3L 7th of 19 is likely better than it looked and gives plenty hope that her current mark of OR 82 is still a workable one… this was her first try above C4 level and a drop back into a C3 likely wouldn’t be a bad move for her (for all she could well have a C2 in her locker at some stage)…
⭕ 5:20 York – 6f Class 2 Nursery Handicap
🏇 4th – RIVER SPEY
This was an eye-catching effort on handicap debut for the Sergie Prokofiev gelding as he ran a big race against the pace bias here, with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th all ‘chasing the leaders’ or ‘prominent’ and RIVER SPEY doing his running in ‘mid-division’ in the early to middle stages of this 6f contest… he came into this off the back of a close 3rd in the valuable 6f Maiden run at Glorious Goodwood, a race that has already been working out strongly – the winner (STELLAR SUNRISE) going in again when winning the 7f Nursery on the Thursday of this Ebor meeting, the 2nd (NAVAL CROWN) finishing a close 3rd in the Convivial Maiden on the Friday of this meeting and the 5th (ENRICHER) winning a Maiden at Wolverhampton – so there’s every chance he’s entered Nursery company on a very workable mark (ran here off OR 83 and put up 2lbs to OR 85 off the back of this effort)… also well worth noting that his trainer – ED WALKER – has solid stats in Nurseries with similar types… E Walker | 2yo Nursery Hcps | Sept-Oct | horses on 2nd & 3rd Hcp start | 4-5 career starts | SP 8/1 or less = 13/36 | 36% S/R | +£33.30 – W&P 21/36 | 58% S/R (E/W = +£37.76)… stats that RIVER SPEY will fit (SP depending) if he reappears in a Nursery in the next couple of months…
📆 Thursday 21st August
⭕ 5:20 York – 7f Class 2 Fillies Handicap
🏇 17th – ROGUE SENSATION
This 3yo filly has now disappointed on all 3 starts at York and although there were probable excuses for her previous 2 starts at the track, it’s harder to make an excuse for this effort and it’s likely that she simply doesn’t handle the track all that well… in fact it may well be that offspring of her sire – TOO DARN HOT – just don’t handle York all that well, as they now have combined stats of 0/26, 5p at the track (21 different horses in the 26 runs) and it could be worth treating his kids with caution when running on the Knavesmire (at least until more evidence is accumulated)… ROGUE SENSATION was a long way below the level of form she showed at Chester on her previous start, so we know she’s much better than this effort suggests, and she’s worth forgiving this run… hopefully they’ll find a suitable opening for her AWAY from York before the season is out… she went down 1lb to OR 94 for this run…
📆 Friday 22nd August
⭕ 3:35 York – 5f Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes
🏇 5th – RUMSTAR
There was a bit of a pace/track bias at play in this one, with the first 4 home drawn in stalls 5, 3, 6 & 8… RUMSTAR was drawn in stall 14 and was the first home of those drawn in double figures and it’s worth marking his performance up a little on the bare figures… he generally tends to find these top-level races just out with his abilities, this run putting his G1 & G2 form at 0/6, 0p, and he deserves plenty of credit for getting as close as he did, especially when you consider the draw handicap he was also facing… and drop down on class would likely be the best move for him and he’s worth looking out for under the following… G3 or less | 5f | Soft+ = 11114312 (5/8, 1p – 5 of 6 career wins)…
⭕ 4:10 York – 1m2.5f Class 2 Fillies Handicap
🏇 4th – ZGHARTA
This was the 3yo’s third handicap start and the third time she’d been handed a tricky draw to break from… like on her two previous starts, at Royal Ascot and then Glorious Goodwood, she put in as best an effort as she could from her disadvantaged starting stall and ran with plenty credit, without quite looking like she was in a position to lay down a winning challenge… all 6 winners of this handicap have started in the bottom half of the draw, as have 16 of the 18 win and place horse, so this 4L 4th of 13 after breaking from the widest stall of all (13) is a much better effort than it looks… her mark of 89 looks a winnable one and connections should be able to find a winnable opportunity for her before seasons end (and with a bit more luck from the draw)…
⭕ 5:20 York – 1m Class 2 Sky Bet Mile Handicap
🏇 8th – FEARNOT
This is proving to be a tough race for those drawn in Quarter 4 (the high numbers), with only 1 of the 13 renewals going to those drawn in Q4 and returning stats of… 1/45, 5p – 65% below exp… that was highlighted here by 3 of the 4 drawn in Q4 finishing 15th (third last), 16th (2nd last) and 17th (last)… FEARNOT was the other horse drawn in Q4 (he broke from stall 15) and I’d be marking his 2.4L 8th of 17 up a good bit on the bare form… he’s better judged on his 3 previous starts over the straight mile at Ascot and he’s likely still got more to offer in handicaps from his mark of OR 104, before he steps into Listed and Group company…
📆 Saturday 23rd August
⭕ 3:35 York – 1m6f Class 2 Ebor Handicap
🏇 7th – MAJESTIC WARRIOR
This was only the 5yo’s 5th career start and only his 2nd in handicap company but he handled the hustle and bustle well and there was more than enough in this run to suggest he’s up to defying his current mark of OR 98… he holds plenty of stamina influences in his pedigree and he could well have a big staying handicap in his locker…
🏇 11th – SHADOW DANCE
A solid enough effort from the 5yo, without quite looking like he was going to lay down a serious challenge… he possibly didn’t fully let himself down in the closing stages on the Good to Firm ground and he might just be at his best on Good or softer conditions – he’s 0/2, 0p on G/F compared to 2/9, 5p on Good or softer – and he does seem to be at his peak at the back end of the season, with form in the Aug to Oct period on Good or softer ground of… 3121 (2/4, 2p – both career wins)… he was dropped 1lb to OR 99 for this outing…
⭕ 4:10 York – 6f Class 2 Constantine Handicap
🏇 9th – STRIKE RED
The pace/draw bias played out slightly odd in this race… despite the 1st & 2nd fighting out the finish of the race on the near side, those drawn in the top-third of the draw (high numbers) were never able to land a blow… the first 8 home were all drawn in stalls 10 or lower and 11 of the first 12 home were drawn in stalls 12 or lower… the only one from the top-third of the draw to get in amongst all those lower drawn horses was this lad, who broke from the highest stall of all (stall 20)… he was never close enough to make any serious challenge for the win/places but he kept on plugging away and continued what has been a solid season for him (despite failing to win any of his 9 starts and only placing on 2 occasions)… I have his PC as… OR 95 or less | tracks with undulations (or AW) | July-Oct | carrying 9-06 or less = 8/17, 3p – all 8 career wins… and I suspect the 6f York Sprint Trophy in October, that he has won twice in the last 3 years, is a likely target again for him…
In other news…
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Cheers – Ben (NTF)
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