Entries for the Group 2 Sky Bet Great Voltigeur include Latrobe; winner of last Saturday’s Irish Derby for the O’Brien family, trainer Joseph and his jockey brother, Donnacha.
The colt could face familiar competition for the £170,000 prize money, with Mark Johnston entering Dee Ex Bee, a horse trained locally in Middleham, that was second in the Investec Derby and seventh at The Curragh.
This pair is prominent in the ante post betting market for the final Classic of the season, the St Leger at Doncaster; with nine of the top ten fancies for this September race entered for York. The Sky Bet Great Voltigeur looks set to continue its role in identifying the highest calibre of three year old horses with stamina, some thirteen colts have already achieved the York/Doncaster double.
A winner at Group level at last year’s Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, Wells Farhh Go, could be another to represent local yards, being trained near Malton by Tim Easterby. A brace of Royal Ascot victors, Old Persian (King Edward VII Stakes) and Kew Gardens (Queen’s Vase) also form part of the fifty-nine strong field at this stage.
Further entry stages and the potential for supplementary additions will add further excitement ahead of the race on Wednesday 22 August, the opening day of York’s feature festival.