There’s something about York … - The Horse Racing Network

There’s something about York … There really is. For me, this is the best Flat racecourse in the world. It has it all in spades, and the four-day Ebor Festival is the pinnacle of the season on the Knavesmire, writes Paul Alster.

Yes, Royal Ascot is marvellous, the meeting offering amazing racing and plenty of extraordinary sights both equine and human. It is a bit snobby though, expensive, and fighting your way through the throngs can be quite exhausting!

Glorious Goodwood is more chilled, and the setting atop the Sussex Downs is nothing short of spectacular. The weather can be hit and miss however, with mist and sea fret often making a nuisance of themselves, while the unique, undulating track provides amazing excitement but is equally frustrating from a punting point of view with so many horses finding the themselves “unlucky-in-running”.

Chester can be a delight, as too can Sandown. Doncaster’s St Leger Festival is always worth a visit, but York has it all. That wonderful setting on the edge of a beautiful, ancient city, allied to a knowledgable and good natured crowd, ample space for everyone to mill around, superb facilities for viewing, dining, and drinking alike, and most importantly, world class, hugely competitive thoroughbred horse racing on the wide, galloping expanses of York racecourse that so often attract the best of the best. It is a delight.

Some of the all-time great racehorses have graced the York turf and provided us with everlasting racing memories. In the modern era – to name but one – who can forget that most spine-tingling of moments when the legendary Frankel maintained his unbeaten record with a breathtaking dismissal of top-class rivals in the 2012 Group 1 Juddmonte International?

The great Frankel, ridden by Tom Queally, trained by Sir Henry Cecil, after his stunning 2012 Juddmonte International triumph at York

This year’s York Ebor Festival begins on Wednesday 20th and ends on Saturday 23rd August, by which time we will have seen the Group 1 Juddmonte International and the Group 2 Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes on day one; day two will feature the Group 1 Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks and the Group 2 Sky Bet Lowther Stakes; on day three the five furlong Group 1 Coolmore Wootton Basset Nunthorpe Stakes takes centre stage; and on the fourth and final day the newly upgraded Group 1 Sky Bet City Of York Stakes, Britain’s first top level race over seven furlongs, will share top billing with Europe’s richest staying handicap, the 1m6f Sky Bet Ebor Handicap.

Add in high quality maiden and novice events, along with listed, Group 2 and Group 3 races supported by a host of red-hot handicaps over a variety of distances, and there is something for everyone who takes a proper interest in the Sport Of Kings.

On Tuesday 19th August, here at The Horse Racing Network, Izzy Philips and myself will present our video preview of the pick of the races over the four-day spectacular, focusing on the key horses to follow and offering our advice as to which might be worthy of carrying your hard earned cash. Undoubtedly the big Group 1 and Group 2 events will feature prominently in our deliberations, but don’t be surprised if we come up with a few horses to watch in races slightly down the pecking order who, from a punting perspective, might prove worthy of serious consideration.

Paul Alster has broadcast and reported on the British racing industry for four decades as a commentator, journalist, presenter, betting correspondent, SP Returner, tipster and form analyst, among other things.