Knights Solicitors Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Dante Festival)

2025 Knights Solicitors Handicap Preview

Scheduled to take place in May of each year at the York racecourse is this class two handicap which takes place during the Dante Festival.

Open to runners aged four or older, they compete over a distance of one mile, two and a half furlongs around this left-handed track.

Knights Solicitors Handicap Information:

• Knights Solicitors Handicap Past Winners
• Knights Solicitors Handicap Trainer Statistics
• Knights Solicitors Handicap Jockey Statistics

We also have a dedicated York tips page that will cover this race as well as all of the other races on the day of the race, see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are predicting to win this race and the others on the cards. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information during the Dante Festival, head down to the Other Principal races during the York Dante Festival section for links to these. In addition to those, we also cover numerous races at York during the flat season, you can find links to those here.

How competitive is the Knights Solicitors Handicap market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2022 when the race had an over-round of 114%. The race in 2017 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 131%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Knights Solicitors Handicap, the over-round has been 120%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £120 which is bet.

Knights Solicitors Handicap Trends:

• 2025 Knights Solicitors Handicap Trends
• Knights Solicitors Handicap 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 Knights Solicitors Handicap next time out then you would have backed a total of 5 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +0.50. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2025 Knights Solicitors Handicap.

Over the last 20 renewals, it was Im Imposing, trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by Ryan Moore who set the fastest winning time in the Knights Solicitors Handicap, the runner won the race in a time of 2:07.41 when winning the race in 2010. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer David Barron and jockey Jamie Spencer with Zero Tolerance who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 2:17.01 in the 2005 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run Knights Solicitors Handicap over the last 20 renewals:

1. Im Imposing (2:07.41) in 2010
2. Marhaba The Champ (2:08.06) in 2023
3. Nayel (2:08.51) in 2016

Knights Solicitors Handicap Past Winners

Here are the Knights Solicitors Handicap 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 trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Knights Solicitors Handicap as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Knights Solicitors Handicap have been based:

• GB: 20 winners with an additional 46 placings from 280 runners
• AUS: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Knights Solicitors Handicap Trainer Statistics

There are two leading trainers in the Knights Solicitors Handicap over the last 20 renewals with both Saeed bin Suroor and Roger Varian who have both won the race three times. Saeed bin Suroor winners have been with Emirates Skyline (2007), Folk Opera (2008) and Moonquake (2009). Roger Varian winners have been with Pekan Star (2011), UAE Prince (2019) and Botanical (2024). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Knights Solicitors Handicap is John Gosden (2 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Knights Solicitors Handicap, David O'Meara has sent a total of 15 runners to the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Knights Solicitors Handicap 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):

Knights Solicitors Handicap Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Knights Solicitors Handicap over the last 20 renewals is Frankie Dettori who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Emirates Skyline (2007), Folk Opera (2008) and Moonquake (2009). Other jockeys who have recorded multiple wins in the Knights Solicitors Handicap are William Buick (2 wins), James Doyle (2 wins) and Andrea Atzeni (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Knights Solicitors Handicap 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):

Knights Solicitors Handicap Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +17.50 is when runners ran in a race restricted to 3yo+ when last winning. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had a biggest odds run of 50/1, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-36.

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

• 2024: Winner in 2 (1,13,6) [16 Runners]
• 2023: Winner in 4 (6,2) [13 Runners]
• 2022: Winner in 2 (5,1) [10 Runners]
• 2021: Winner in 6 (2,12) [12 Runners]
• 2019: Winner in 8 (7,6) [11 Runners]

The courses that have produced the most winners of the Knights Solicitors Handicap are Newbury and Doncaster, there has been a total number of 3 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 18 winners from a total of 268 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 2 winners from a total of 13 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Knights Solicitors Handicap:

• Galileo (2 Wins)
• Lope De Vega (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 Knights Solicitors Handicap, that stallion is Cape Cross who has failed to produce a winner from 6 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Vintage Premium in 2004, winning for Richard Fahey at odds of 16/1 under the guidance of Paul Hanagan. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 6 winning favourites in the race. Remember to use the best racing tipsters along with the information on this page to find you a bet on the 2025 Knights Solicitors Handicap.

Other Principal races during the York Dante Festival

Remember to head over to the York predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters are supporting in the Knights Solicitors Handicap. Below are the other principal races that we cover during the Dante Festival with links to each race blog as well as information for last year's winners.

Wednesday at the Dante Festival

The highlight on Wednesday, the opening day of the Dante Festival is the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes, a race contested over six furlongs with a prize fund of £150k.

Thursday at the Dante Festival

Thursday's highlight is the Dante Stakes, a race that carries a prize fund of £180k is restricted to three-year-olds and run over an extended ten furlongs.

Friday at the Dante Festival

On Friday, the final day of the festival, the feature race, the Yorkshire Cup which is part of the British Champion Series is the highlight, with a prize fund of £180k the runners compete over a distance of one mile, five furlongs and 188 yards.

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 July

• John Smiths Cup
• Sky Bet Dash

Races in August (Ebor Festival)

• Acomb Stakes
• Great Voltigeur Stakes
• Juddmonte International Stakes
• Symphony Group Handicap
• York Ebor Festival Stayers Handicap
• Clipper Logistics Heritage Handicap
• Galtres Stakes
• Lowther Stakes
• Premier Yearling Stakes
• Yorkshire Oaks
• Gimcrack Stakes
• Lonsdale Cup
• Nunthorpe Stakes
• York Ebor Festival Sky Bet Handicap
• City of York Stakes
• Ebor Handicap
• Melrose Heritage Handicap
• Roses Stakes
• Strensall Stakes

Races in October

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