City of York Stakes Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Ebor Festival)

2025 City of York Stakes Preview

Upgraded to a Group 2 in 2019, the City of York Stakes is open to runners aged three or older and is run over seven furlongs, the race takes place on the last day of the York Ebor Festival which takes place in August.

City of York Stakes Information:

• City of York Stakes Past Winners
• City of York Stakes Trainer Statistics
• City of York Stakes Jockey Statistics

To see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are tipping throughout the card that includes this race, head over to the York tips on the day of the race, do they agree with the runners on the trend shortlist or are they predicting other runners? You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at York Racecourse section for links to these.

How competitive is the City of York Stakes market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2013 when the race had an over-round of 108%. The race in 2017 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 126%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the City of York Stakes, the over-round has been 117%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £117 which is bet.

City of York Stakes Trends:

• 2025 City of York Stakes Trends
• City of York Stakes Trend Analysis

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the City of York Stakes next time out then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 20 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -4.07. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2025 City of York Stakes.

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 1:21.00 was set by Shine So Bright in 2019, which is the quickest time over that period, the runner was trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by James Doyle. The slowest winning time was set in 2013 when Sirius Prospect won in a time of 1:26.84, booked to ride was Robert Winston by the trainer Dean Ivory.

These are the top three quickest-run City of York Stakes over the last 20 renewals:

1. Shine So Bright (1:21.00) in 2019
2. Yaa Wayl (1:21.93) in 2010
3. Nemoralia (1:22.16) in 2016

City of York Stakes Past Winners

Here are the City of York Stakes past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the City of York Stakes are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the City of York Stakes have been based:

• GB: 19 winners with an additional 35 placings from 196 runners
• IRE: 2 winners with an additional 2 placings from 12 runners
• GER: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
• SAF: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

City of York Stakes Trainer Statistics

There are two leading trainers in the City of York Stakes over the last 20 renewals with both Andrew Balding and Sir Michael Stoute who have both won the race three times. Andrew Balding winners have been with Dream Eater (2009), Absolutely So (2014) and Shine So Bright (2019). Sir Michael Stoute winners have been with Arakan (2005), Confront (2009) and Expert Eye (2018). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the City of York Stakes is Ralph Beckett (2 wins). Two trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the City of York Stakes, Richard Fahey has sent a total of 13 runners to the race without recording any wins whilst David O'Meara has sent out 11 without a winner.

Here are some of the top City of York Stakes trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

City of York Stakes Jockey Statistics

There are two leading jockeys in the City of York Stakes over the last 20 renewals with both Frankie Dettori and William Buick who have both won the race three times. Frankie Dettori winners have been with Expert Eye (2018) and Kinross (2022 & 2023). William Buick winners have been with Dream Eater (2009), Gordon Lord Byron (2012) and Space Blues (2021).

Here are some of the top City of York Stakes jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

City of York Stakes Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +31.00 is when runners had 0 career starts at the track. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 5 career wins, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-28.

Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:

• 2024: Winner in 3 (2) [6 Runners]
• 2023: Winner in 6 (2,1) [11 Runners]
• 2022: Winner in 5 (2,4) [9 Runners]
• 2021: Winner in 1 (3,4) [9 Runners]
• 2020: Winner in 4 (7,6) [8 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the City of York Stakes is Goodwood, there has been a total number of 11 winners of this race who ran at Goodwood last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 17 winners from a total of 185 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 4 winners from a total of 25 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the City of York Stakes:

• Acclamation (2 Wins)
• Kingman (2 Wins)

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the City of York Stakes, that stallion is Dark Angel who has failed to produce a winner from 8 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Breege in 2024, winning for John & Sean Quinn at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of Colin Keane. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 9 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 City of York Stakes remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.

Other Principal races during the York Ebor Festival

Remember to head over to the York predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters support in the City of York Stakes. Below are the other principal races that we cover during the Ebor Festival with links to each race blog and information for last year's winners.

Wednesday at the Ebor Festival

The highlight on the opening day of the Ebor Festival is the Juddmonte International, a Group 1 race with a purse of £1.25m which is part of the British Champion Series.

Thursday at the Ebor Festival

The fillies and mares take centre stage on Thursday at the festival in the Yorkshire Oaks, another Group 1 which is part of the British Champion Series.

Friday at the Ebor Festival

The British Champion Series race for Friday at the Ebor Festival is the 500k Nunthrope over the sprint distance of five furlongs. The Lonsdale Cup is also part of the British Champion Series on Friday.

Saturday at the Ebor Festival

The highlight on the final day of the Ebor Festival is the Ebor Handicap itself, a stamina testing class two handicap which carries a purse of 500k.

Other Principal Races at York Racecourse

Here are some other notable races at the York racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.

Races in May (Dante Festival)

• Churchill Tyres Handicap
• Duke of York Stakes
• Jorvik Stakes
• Musidora Stakes
• Dante Stakes
• Hambleton Stakes
• Lindum York Handicap
• Middleton Stakes
• Knights Solicitors Handicap
• Yorkshire Cup

Races in July

• John Smiths Cup
• Sky Bet Dash

Races in October

• Autumn Mile Handicap
• Coral Handicap Stakes
• Coral Sprint Trophy
• Finale Handicap