Events / Malcolm Pannett / 17 August 2009 / 1

Run on the Knavesmire, formerly the location of public hangings including that of Dick Turpin, the Ebor is the richest handicap in Europe. Malcolm Pannett delves into the race's history.

The eponymous race of the Ebor Festival dates back to 1843 when Pagan won at 6/1 under Sim Templeman over a trip of two miles. The race was the brainchild of the Clerk of the Course John Orton who had been charged with rejuvenating York's flagging fortunes.

Orton went on to improve the facilities for the viewing public which had the knock-on effect of reducing the Ebor's distance by approximately a quarter of a mile. There have been slight changes to the trip subsequently however the current one mile and six furlongs looks set in stone now despite the introduction of the round track for Royal Ascot at York in 2005.

The Ebor is a tremendous spectacle and the prospect of an improving three-year-old taking on the older horses provides extra relish. In the last 20 years seven three-year-olds have succeeded the most recent was the Aidan O'Brien-trained Mediterranean in 2001.

Notable winners in the early days include The Hero (1849) and Isonomy (1879) who were both dual Gold Cup-winners; and Lily Agnes (1875) who won 21 races. Two horses that left an indelible mark on the race are the Champion-Hurdlers Brown Jack (1931) and Sea Pigeon (1979).

More recently winners include Further Flight (1990) the fifth of his 24 career victories that included five Jockey Club Cups; Sanmartino (1995) who developed into a decent hurdler winning the Dovecote at Kempton and Gerry Feilden at Newbury; Give The Slip (2000) who went onto finish second in the Melbourne Cup; Hugs Dancer (2002) who won the next year's Chester Cup; and Sergeant Cecil (2005) who went on to win the Cesarewitch and Prix du Cadran as well as the Doncaster and Yorkshire Cups.

The biggest upset in the history of the race came in 2006 when Mudawin obliged at 100/1. Jane Chapple-Hyam's charge looked to be out of contention with two furlongs to travel but stayed on well taking a diagonal course starting on the outer and finishing on the inner. The son of Intikhab forced himself into the frame close home but then unfeasibility managed to get up in the final stride to beat Glistening by a head with a short-head back to Young Mick in third.

The Ebor is very competitive and not surprisingly the list of horses that have won twice is short. In fact there is only one name on it - Flint Jack (1922 and 1923).

The name of the race is derived from the Roman word for York namely Eboracum. Last year the whole meeting was abandoned as the track was hit by heavy rain and became waterlogged. A substitute Ebor was arranged at Newbury, albeit over a slightly shorter distance (1m 5f 61y). It was named, in line with the original, the Newburgh Handicap. Newburgh being the Norman word for Newbury.

This was not the first time that the Ebor had been run away from York. In 1943 and 1944, during World War II, the race was revived at Pontefract after not being run from 1940 to 1943. The race went back to York in 1945. The Ebor was also cancelled between 1914 and 1918.

25 years ago - Guy Harwood's three-year-old Crazy, ridden by Walter Swinburn, just held on to beat Centroline by a head despite sweating profusely in the paddock. A wider margin looked to be on the cards after the son of Crystal Palace had cruised through to lead a quarter of a mile from home but in the final furlong his stride shortened and he only barely lasted home. The pair were clear of Bucklow Hill who took third.

10 years ago - A career highlight for Luca Cumani's Vicious Circle, ridden by Kevin Darley, who won three out of four of his outings during 1999 after having disappointed badly at Brighton on his last run of 1998. Held up in the early stages, the son of Lahib made good progress until being blocked three furlongs from home. Darley persisted and the partnership hit the front just before the furlong marker holding on to win well by two lengths from Travelmate, Mowbray and Eminence Grise. Favourite Jaseur was slow away but threatened to take a major part with a quarter of a mile to go however he didn't find much under pressure dropping back to finish tenth.

Five years ago - Another win for Luca Cumani with Mephisto, Darryll Holland up, who rallied close home after hanging to just land the spoils. With half-a-mile to go Gold Ring took up the pace from Royal Cavalier. Galloping into the final furlong Gold Ring started to lean right as the challenging Mephisto hung left and inevitably they came together. Mephisto led but Gold Ring managed to get his head back in front close home only to be repassed by Mephisto on the line. The well-named son of Machiavellian survived the predictable Stewards' Inquiry to make it four wins in a row. The sequence had started in the Queen Mother's Cup when he was ridden by the trainer's wife Sara beating their daughter Francesca who was aboard sixth-placed Kuster. Mephisto subsequently joined Howard Johnson to take up an NH career. Cumani added to his Ebor tally when Purple Moon won in 2007.

Last year - All The Good wins the substitute Ebor, rebranded the Newburgh, for Godolpin. Trained by Gerard Butler the year before when finishing 14th to Purple Moon the son of Diesis won a handicap at Ascot before moving to Saeed bin Suroor. Three runs later challenging on the wide outside he quickly dispatched his 19 rivals winning by three-and-a-quarter lengths from Tropical Strait and Yellowstone. All The Good then set of for the southern hemisphere and was next seen landing the Caulfield Cup in Australia ridden by Kerrin McEvoy.

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1. Nigel Aplin | 05 September 2010

   Could Malcolm kindly contact me ?

   Email or 07971 992343

   Many thanks,

   Nigel Aplin

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