Record prize money of over £3.2 million will be offered for the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, over the four feature days (21, 22, 23 and 24 August), a boost of £270,000 (9%).
The richest race ever staged at York will be the Group One Juddmonte International, the showpiece of the opening day when the top middle distance horses in the world will compete for £750,000 (up by £25,000) and the chance to join the roll of honour headed by Frankel.
Probably the most famous race at York, the Betfred Ebor itself, will be cemented as the richest flat handicap in Europe by the addition of £25,000 to the prize pot making it worth a quarter of a million pounds.
Consistent with an annual review process there are some alterations to the twenty-five race programme, the most significant of which will see a pair of famous Group Two races swap places. The Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance Lonsdale Cup, the richest staying Group 2 of the QIPCO British Champions Series, will move to Friday 23 August in a switch with the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes which will now to be run on Ebor Day, Saturday 24 August. Both contests will have more prize money, a £10,000 injection going towards the leading staying race of the week set to offer £150,000, whilst the juvenile sprint will receive the biggest boost of any single race increasing its prize fund to £200,000 (up by a third or £50,000). This makes the Gimcrack by far the richest Group 2 for juveniles.
Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course, William Derby, said, “We are delighted to be investing in a record prize fund for our flagship Festival. This year we are switching our two famous Group 2 contests to help balance the race programme – the two mile Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance Lonsdale Cup joins our Group 1 sprint the Coolmore Nunthorpe on the Friday card while the six furlong Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack joins the 1 mile six furlong Betfred Ebor and Melrose on the Saturday.”
The Festival welcomes Connolly’s RED MILLS as a sponsor to The Group 2 Lowther which has been increased by £40,000 to a prize fund of £150,000 making it the richest Group 2 for juvenile fillies. On the same Thursday, Ladies Day card, the Darley Yorkshire Oaks has been raised to £325,000, making it the richest all age fillies Group 1 race of the season, apart from the Fillies and Mares contest on British Champions Day, so it is most apt that it forms a key leg of the QIPCO backed British Champions Series.
Minimum prize money on offer for any race at Ebor has been increased to £30,000 (2012: £25,000) and the three Listed contests supported by the European Breeders’ Fund, Betfred and the family of Julia Graves have all been increased to £50,000 each, some £13,000 more than BHA race values.
On the Friday, a new one mile handicap for three year olds has been added to the card securing a second new backer to the event in Nationwide Accident Repair Services. Completing both the new partners and a fully sponsored schedule are Lanstone Building Conservation who back a stayer’s handicap on the opening day. Friday also sees the richest maiden run in Britain, the £30,000 Sky Bet Mobile Convivial Maiden Stakes over seven furlongs which is also part of the Racing Post Yearling Bonus Scheme with a potential additional £10,000 for the winner.
The support of QIPCO is prevalent on all four days with the three Group Ones and Friday’s £150,000 Group 2 Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance Lonsdale Cup all part of the British Champions Series. The final race of the Festival will once again be the QIPCO Future Stars Apprentice Race over five furlongs for three year olds with a prize fund of £30,000, part of a three race initiative which started at Glorious Goodwood and ends on British Champions Day, it intends to focus on the rising talents in the jockey ranks.
The international standing of the races is further enhanced with the Connolly’s RED MILLS Lowther joining the Coolmore Nunthorpe as part of the Breeder’s Cup Challenge Series. Both the Juddmonte International and Darley Yorkshire Oaks are nominated by the Japan Racing Association for big bonuses if the winner travels to the far east in the autumn.
All races at the Festival will have speed tracking equipment attached to runners to allow an instant relay of speed and position information to racegoers and viewers which will delivered by Turftrax.
There are also prizes for the Leading Jockey of the Festival backed by Sky Bet and the White Rose Award where Living North magazine will provide a special prize for the stand-out moment over the four days. Of course this went to the mighty Frankel in 2012.
William Derby concluded, “Twenty-one of our twenty-five races that make up the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival have been increased in value which means, when combined with last year’s increases to a further three contests, that all bar the already valuable sales race, have been increased over the last two years. Add in the various bonus initiatives and it becomes a yet more attractive proposition for connections. The quality and quantity of horses running at the Ebor Festival continues to increase and we are very much looking forward to welcoming the very best horses and jockeys to York and so witnessing some compelling and competitive racing action.”