Timeform’s in-depth guide to York, featuring all the key facts and figures for the 2022 Dante Festival.
Timeform’s York course guide
Left handed, flat. In essence, York is a very fair track, ideal for the long-striding galloper. In recent seasons, the field tends to come more down the centre of the track than has historically been the case, particularly if conditions are testing. The track was made into a circuit in 2005 and offers a straight five furlong/six furlong track, on which a high draw has been a distinct disadvantage in recent years, while seven furlong races start on a chute.
Leading active jockeys at York
Sorted by strike rate in the last five years (minimum 20 rides)
- Frankie Dettori 22.99% (20-87)
- Sean Levey 18.52% (5-27)
- Connor Beasley 17.50% (14-80)
- James Doyle 17.07% (21-123)
- Stevie Donohoe 16.67% (5-30)
Other points to consider
- Daniel Tudhope is the most successful jockey at York since 2017, with 32 winners from 290 rides, operating at an 11.03% strike rate. Two of those wins came in successive editions of the Listed Westow Stakes on the Thursday of the Dante Festival in 2017 and 2018, a race he also won in 2013.
- David Allan is the next most successful jockey with 23 winners from 219 rides and has been profitable to follow too, returning a level stakes profit of 26.19.
- Andrea Atzeni, William Buick, Tom Marquand and Silvestre de Sousa were the most successful jockeys at last year’s Dante Festival with two winners apiece. Marquand was Top Jockey at York for the first time in 2021.
Leading active trainers at York
Sorted by strike rate in the last five years (minimum 20 runners)
- John (& Thady) Gosden 27.10% (29-107)
- Charlie Appleby 24.56% (14-57)
- Ed Dunlop 23.81% (5-21)
- Owen Burrows 19.05% (4-21)
- William Haggas 17.62% (37-210)
Other points to consider
- Local trainer Tim Easterby is the most successful trainer at York since 2017, with 39 winners from 451 runners. While that equates to a strike rate of only 8.65%, the stable’s runners have returned a substantial level stakes profit of 103.12.
- Easterby was also the leading trainer at last year’s Dante Festival where he saddled three winners and was the Top Trainer at York for a second time in 2021. Andrew Balding and Ed Walker both had two winners at the Dante Festival.
- Sir Michael Stoute is the most successful trainer in the Dante Stakes this century with four winners and he has won the race six times in all, one short of the record held by Sir Henry Cecil. Aidan O’Brien and John Gosden have won it three times and Mark Johnston twice.
Best performances at the Dante Festival
Sorted by Timeform performance ratings in the last five years
- Harry Angel (131) – 2018 Duke of York Stakes WON
- Stradivarius (125) – 2018 Yorkshire Cup WON
- Tasleet (123) – 2017 Duke of York Stakes WON
- Stradivarius (122) – 2019 Yorkshire Cup WON
- Desert Skyline (121) – 2018 Yorkshire Cup Second
- Telecaster (121) – 2019 Dante Stakes WON
- First Eleven (121) – 2019 Jorvik Handicap WON
- Spanish Mission (121) – 2021 Yorkshire Cup WON
Top-class sprinter Harry Angel posted the best performance at the Dante Festival in the last five years when winning the 2018 Duke of York Stakes under a Group 1 penalty. The previous year’s winner Tasleet also ranks highly after beating former winner Magical Memory by two and a half lengths.
Stradivarius landed the odds by three lengths in his first Yorkshire Cup (runner-up Desert Skyline ran well in face of a stiff task conceding him weight) in 2018 and followed up under a penalty a year later. He bids to win the race for a third time on Friday and boasts an unbeaten record at York, having won his third Lonsdale Cup at last year’s Ebor Festival. 2021 Yorkshire Cup winner Spanish Mission also defied a penalty.
Telecaster is the highest-rated Dante winner of the last five years after beating the previous season’s champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot in 2019, while the same year First Eleven put up one of the best handicap performances of the entire season when winning the mile and a half Jorvik Handicap under 9-9.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.