The 2025 Ebor Festival will capture the eyes of the racing world this week, as York racecourse’s premier meeting gets underway.
Four days of action will feature 28 races, highlighted by the running of four Group One feature races, as well as the festival’s namesake-race – The Ebor Handicap.
This big-field handicap runs on the last day of the meeting and will see horses go head-to-head for almost a mile and six furlongs.
A share of prize money worth £500,000 awaits runners and riders, as the Knavesmire’s prestigious handicap sees both flat and jumps trainers send horses to compete.
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Willie Mullins
One such jumps trainer is renowned Irishman Willie Mullins, who won this race in 2023 with Absurde – a winner over obstacles as well as in (Listed) flat company.
Two of his horses feature at the top of the ante-post betting market, with the bigger-priced of the pair owned by the same owner syndicate as the 2023 winner.
Ethical Diamond is currently the co-second-favourite at 8/1, whilst stablemate Hipop De Loire is the clear (3/1) favourite.
The former is a maiden hurdle winner in Ireland and also placed fourth behind winning stable-companion Kargese in this year’s County Hurdle, at the Cheltenham Festival – Absurde was third.
On his latest run, he took victory in Royal Ascot‘s (Class Two) Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap.
It was his first run on the flat since placing fourth in that same race last season.
READ MORE: Ebor Festival 2025 – Dates, how to watch on TV, trainers and jockeys to watch
Hipop de Loire
Hipop De Loire, meanwhile, will arrive here off the back of winning a maiden hurdle at Galway.
The gelding had been campaigned exclusively in Poland for two years before brief flirtations with Germany and a year off the track.
Last year’s fifth placed effort in this race was only his second run for Mullins and he has undergone the same preparations – though this time winning at Galway.
That run was only his fourth for Mullins and the Ebor will see him back on the flat for the first time since finishing fourth in a Listed race at Roscommon.
On Hipop De Loire, Mullins told the Racing Post: “He’s been very good since Galway and is very much on course for the Ebor, we just need better luck this time around.
“I liked the way he won at Galway, his jumping was so slick the whole way and he looks like he’s improving, so we’ll head back to York and hope for a bit more luck than we got last year.
“Everything has gone well with him in the build-up.”
London City
The other two that join his second string at co-second-favouritism are Royal Ascot winner French Master and trainer Aidan O’Brien’s London City.
The former is a Wathnan Racing-owned colt trained by John and Thady Gosden, who – since his debut – had never finished outside the top two until his latest run.
That came at Glorious Goodwood where he finished fifth in the Goodwood Cup, on his first Group One run.
He will revert to Handicap company here, with a record of two wins from three races in this division.
O’Brien hasn’t won this race since 2001 and his best chance here (according to the ante-post market) is with London City.
This colt has won one of his two Handicaps, with that win coming at this course last season and the defeat coming on seasonal reappearance at The Curragh.
That defeat was one of two from his two runs this season, as he went on to finish fifth in Group Two company at the same course.
However, he has been the subject of a market gamble in which his price has come down from around 20/1 into 8/1, suggesting there may be untapped potential at this trip.
Henry de Bromhead
Last year’s winning trainer Henry De Bromhead is another trainer renowned for his horses over obstacles, but he has entered Ascending into this race.
Since being pulled up in a Novice Hurdle at Punchestown last season, he has finished inside the top two in all of his subsequent starts – winning the last three.
His latest win was in a Class Two Handicap at Royal Ascot and despite the fact that he will drop back almost a mile in trip to run in the Ebor, he was a winner over a 1.5 mile before that run.
De Bromhead’s gelding still holds an entry into the (Group One) Irish St Leger, so he could be attractively priced at 16/1.
He is one of four at this price, with Dancing In Paris, Kihavah and Alphonse Le Grande also at 16/1.
Shadow Dance is slightly shorter at 14’s – whose trainer Roger Varian could have a shrewd chance at winning his first Ebor since 2020.
His gelding was in good form last season, winning the Sky Bet Handicap on this card and placing in (Class Two) Handicaps at Ripon and Doncaster either side of that.
He arrives here after only one run this season, which – although ending in a sixth placed finish – came over a shorter trip than he is accustomed to.
The rest of the market is headed by Aeronautic and Almosh’her, both of whom are priced at 20/1.
The race will go off at 3:35pm on Saturday, August 23 and will be broadcast live and for free on ITV, whilst Racing TV will screen the action for subscribers only.
By Callum Close
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