Every trainer enjoys celebrating winners at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival given the status it holds in British racing, but for Classic-winning handler William Haggas every victory at York’s premier four-day meeting is that extra bit special.
While enjoying success at the highest level across the globe as a proud Yorkshireman there is nothing more the Newmarket handler enjoys more than tasting success at track that will always remain close to his heart.
And although the numbers Haggas intends to send to this year’s Sky Bet Ebor Festival might be down on previous seasons you can expect those representing him on the Knavesmire to be ultra-competitive.
Up-and-coming stable star Merchant looks set to swerve the meeting, with a trip to the Qatar Prix Niel pencilled in over the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur, however Haggas plans to send a team that will hopefully mark their mark throughout the meeting.
Haggas said: “Everyone loves York. The prizemoney is great and the facilities are first class. There is always a big crowd and a very relaxed atmosphere.
“Everyone wants to be there and Ebor week is a terrific week and there is a great buzz there. You can’t beat it. It is like Royal Ascot and Goodwood. If you have a winner, or two there, it is a great feeling.”
Sky Bet Ebor Festival Potential Team
AEOLIAN (British EBF & Sir Henry Cecil Galtres Stakes)
She belongs to The King and The Queen. She was second at Chester, which wasn’t bad, then she won nicely in a decent novice at Newmarket.
She galloped on well the last day and she will stay well. This race might be a step too early for her, but again she is entitled to have a go.
Wonder Star, who we are also looking at this race for, has a bit more experience than this filly, but she might not have the scope of this filly.
BULLET POINT (Clipper Handicap)
He has run well the last two times at Ascot in the Royal Hunt Cup and then back there at the end of last month, but we want to try him on the turning mile. There is a chance he could go to Australia so we just want to see what he is like around a turning mile.
He has been lovely this season, but then he is a lovely horse. He hasn’t been over raced and he is in good form and looks well. He is a grand horse.
Hopefully, he can win a race like this, but he has gone up another three pounds, however he runs off his old mark so in effect he is three pounds well in.
CASTLE COVE (Sky Bet Handicap Stakes)
Castle Cove ran over a mile and a quarter at Goodwood the other week where he was sent off favourite. The ground was a bit quick and he got too far back and he never got in the race. He is doing okay. He wants cut in the ground so I won’t run him anywhere until it rains again.
CAVIAR HEIGHTS (Sky Bet Ebor Handicap)
I doubt we will run him in the Ebor and at the moment he is going to run in Ireland on Saturday, but we will see.
I think it is unlikely we will run him in the Ebor as he has never raced beyond a mile and a quarter. If he doesn’t go to Ireland there is a chance he will go to Windsor instead.
He needed to win over either a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half to really be considered for the Ebor. We need to know a bit more about him.
CONSECRATED (Assured Data Protection EBF Fillies’ Handicap)
She is another horse that ideally would want a bit of cut in the ground. She won well at Newbury first time out, but appears to have taken a slightly backwards step.
She ran in a Listed race at York on her second start and ran a good race to finish fourth. She ran a funny race that day in that she was prominent, then fell away, before running on again at the finish. Back at Newbury in a novice last time she put in a terrible effort.
I wanted to run her in a Listed race after her first win to see if she was a Royal Ascot filly. I don’t know what her best trip is as her sister Sacred was quick. She was second in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and she won seven furlong stakes race so she had speed.
This filly won over seven furlongs, but she looks like she wants a mile and a quarter so we will see what happens. She seems well now so this might be a good spot for her, but she needs rain. She is off 92 so she will get in a race like this.
ELMONJED (Sky Bet Constantine Handicap)
He has won twice at York, including in this race last year. In the Stewards’ Cup last time out he got too far back and the ground was too soft.
He got a bit of a troubled passage, but he was wrong at the weights too. He ran off a six pounds penalty, and he only went up two pounds, so he was four pounds wrong.
It was probably an error to run him at Goodwood, but if he is okay we will run him back at York and the ground will hopefully be more suitable.
GOLDEN HANDSHAKE (Sky Bet Melrose Handicap)
This race was always the plan after he won at Newbury. He is in good shape. He looks like he wants a step up in trip and again he would prefer a bit of cut in the ground.
The ground was very firm at Newbury the last day and he clearly didn’t like it. I thought he travelled much the best in the race, but he didn’t put it to bed when Tom (Marquand) asked him to go. I think a step up in trip and a bit of nicer ground will help him.
He is rated 88 and he should get in. He should be competitive in what is always a very strong race.
HIGH DEGREE (Sky Bet Mile Handicap)
He is a useful horse. He ran well enough over a mile and a quarter at Goodwood, but his owner is keen to drop him back to a mile.
I think the race he ran in at Goodwood was a good race and the horse that won, Best Secret, I think is a pretty good horse.
I always thought he wanted a mile and a quarter, and I think he is that, however his owner is not sure.
LAKE FOREST (Sky Bet City Of York Stakes)
He will either go here or the Celebration Mile down at Goodwood. I’m fifty-fifty as to which race to run him in.
He hasn't run very well on his last two starts at York. He ran poorly in the Criterion Stakes and he got his leg over the stalls in the City Of York last year. For a hold up horse like him it is quite a difficult track as they tend to peel around that corner in single file, and when you want to cover one up it is quite difficult, and they don’t come back.
It is possible he might have a pair of half-blinkers on if he runs in the City Of York, but he won’t have them on if he runs in the Celebration Mile.
We have got Australia in our minds again for him and his race over there is over a mile. He has never won over a mile, but he hasn’t tried it very much.
He ran well in the Queen Anne then dropped back to seven furlongs in the Lennox, which was a silly race as three got away. He was at the back of the rest of the field and he did well to finish second and make up the ground.
There is the King Charles III Stakes and then the Champions Mile at Flemington and that is the way we are thinking. This will be his last start in England if he goes to Australia.
He is a good horse.
MAGIC STONE (Sky Bet Nursery Handicap)
We might run Magic Stone on the first day in the six furlong nursery. He won last week at Brighton. It was hardly a York winning performance, but who knows. He is a nice horse.
He was second twice at Chepstow before winning last time, but he is getting better and he is more professional. He is a bonny little nursery horse. This will be a much tougher grade, but he has gone up in the weights for his last win so he is entitled to have a shot at a race like this.
MERCHANT (Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes)
Unless Merchant makes giant strides this week I am favouring giving him more time and running him in the Prix Niel as opposed to the Great Voltigeur. He is in good form, but I just think he is not quite ready and needs more time. The Prix Niel gives more time after Goodwood so that is the plan and at the moment.
I adore York, and I would love nothing more than to win a Great Voltigeur, but I feel that France will fit better. If there are only four entries at York we might have a change of plan, but I think the extra time will do him good.
SANTORINI STAR (Sky Bet Ebor/Sky Bet Stayers Handicap)
Santorini Star has an entry in the Ebor but is unlikely to get in so we are looking at potentially stepping her up in trip for the extended two mile handicap. She is also in at Newmarket on Saturday, but we may well just wait for York with her.
I think she also wants a bit of a trip now so the Galtres would be too short for her. She ran over one mile six furlongs in Ireland last time but we think she wants two miles now.
She was a bit disappointing in the Group Three at Fairyhouse last time as she got a bit far back and raced a bit lazily. She came home very well, and finished strongly, but it was all too late. This more conventional track at York will suit her better.
SEA FORCE (Sky Bet Mile Handicap)
Sea Force could run here, but he is not very well handicapped and he is pretty exposed. He was third at Ascot on his penultimate start after we gelded him then he was fourth last time out at Goodwood. That was a very good race.
He was only beaten a length into fourth on heavy ground, which was possibly not that ideal for him. Goodwood is a complicated track, but he travelled well.
York will be fine for him, but I suspect there could be a better handicapped horse in the race.
THE REVEREND (Sky Bet Handicap Stakes)
He will either go to Goodwood, Hamilton or York and he will be entered at all three tracks. He wants to run where the ground is soft, but it might not be soft anywhere.
He didn’t like it when we ran him on quick ground at York in May and we don’t want to do that again. He didn’t really race that day, but he raced much better when he got soft ground at Ripon last time out.
Everything was in his favour that day, but it was an achievement to find where the ground has been soft.
TREASURE TIME (Clipper Handicap)
He has run twice in a week. It was a no show at Goodwood and he finished fourth at Ascot on Saturday. Whether we back him up quickly again I’m not sure, but we will see.
It was a solid effort at Ascot on Saturday without being special. He won the three-year-old only mile race at the meeting last year off 87.
He is slightly higher in the weights this time around, although he hasn’t won since that race, but our horses don’t tend to get dropped in the weights that quickly.
WONDER STAR (British EBF & Sir Henry Cecil Galtres Stakes)
She was second last time out at Goodwood in a handicap, but she ran a good race. That was over a mile and a quarter, but she wants a mile and a half and she is bred to get that trip. We might well give her a go in this.
I think the Listed race at Newbury probably came too quickly after she won at Ascot, but it was sponsored by her owner so it was nice to have a runner in the race for them.
She is a well bred horse that has already won a race, which is important, and she is never going to get any black-type unless she tries these types of races.
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