The rise of the Sky Bet City of York Stakes - New Group 1 at Ebor Festival

When the stalls open on Ebor Day for the inaugural running of the Group 1 Sky Bet City of York Stakes it will be the culmination of a plan by the York Racecourse management and British Horseracing Authority that’s been years in the making.

But the decision is not just made on these shores, it has to get past the European Pattern Committee and that, as York know, is easier said than done.

Two years ago York went all out for promotion of Britain’s premier seven-furlong race from Group 2 to Group 1. The rise of the Sky Bet City of York Stakes had begun when it was elevated to Group 3 in 2016, and three years later was handed a place on the Group 2 list.

The prize money was substantially increased and when Kinross won it in 2023 for the second year running, chased home by Audience (a Group 1 winner the following year) and Sandrine (a winner at Royal Ascot and the Group 2 Lennox Stakes at Goodwood), things seemed to be set fair.

York knew it was not just about the money. But the EPC said no - a verdict they were to reconsider a year later after one of the shock results of the 2024 Ebor Festival when the John and Sean Quinn-trained 33/1 outsider Breege, ridden by Colin Keane, beat the 28/1 shot Vafortino, with Group 1 winners Audience and Art Power off the podium.

The need for a second European Group 1 alongside the Prix de La Foret at Longchamp had been established - seven furlongs very much a specialist distance but one that, it is hoped, would appeal to either those dropping down from a mile or up from sprint distances.

The staying division will get an extra Group 1 on Champions Day at Ascot in October and it's no mean achievement for Britain to have two new championship races added in the same season.

But you have to go back to 2017 when the Goodwood Cup was upgraded and before that to 2015 when a new race, the Commonwealth Cup, was parachuted into Royal Ascot as a Group 1 to behold such changes at the highest level.

It’s a huge feather in York’s cap to have got the new Group 1 to make it four for the week - let us hope they are rewarded by a strong line-up and a fascinating spectacle.

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