Dante Stakes Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Dante Festival)

2025 Dante Stakes Preview

The Dante Stakes had its inaugural running in 1958, the Group 2 flat race is run over a trip of just over one mile and two furlongs (56 yards) at York and is normally run in May and serves as a trial for the Epsom Derby.

The race is open to three-year-old runners where all runners will carry equal weight of 9-0 except for any fillies who will get a 3lb allowance and any Group 1 winner who gets a 3lb penalty.

Dante Stakes Information:

• Dante Stakes Past Winners
• Dante Stakes Trainer Statistics
• Dante Stakes Jockey Statistics

If you are interested in other predictions at York then head over to the York tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. 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 Dante Stakes 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 104%. The race in 2016 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 118%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Dante Stakes, the over-round has been 112%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £112 which is bet.

Dante Stakes Trends:

• 2025 Dante Stakes Trends
• Dante 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 Dante Stakes 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 +6.38. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2025 Dante Stakes.

Over the last 20 renewals, it was The Foxes, trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by Oisin Murphy who set the fastest winning time in the Dante Stakes, the runner won the race in a time of 2:05.84 when winning the race in 2023. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer A P O'Brien and jockey Kieren Fallon with Septimus who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 2:17.55 in the 2006 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run Dante Stakes over the last 20 renewals:

1. The Foxes (2:05.84) in 2023
2. Cape Blanco (2:06.70) in 2010
3. Wings of Desire (2:07.37) in 2016

Dante Stakes Past Winners

Here are the Dante 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 trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Dante Stakes 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 Dante Stakes have been based:

• GB: 17 winners with an additional 19 placings from 126 runners
• IRE: 3 winners with an additional 11 placings from 28 runners

Dante Stakes Trainer Statistics

There are multiple leading trainers in the Dante Stakes over the last 20 renewals with A P O'Brien, John Gosden and Sir Michael Stoute having all won the race three times. A P O'Brien winners have been with Septimus (2006), Black Bear Island (2009) and Cape Blanco (2010). John Gosden's winners have been with Golden Horn (2015), Wings of Desire (2016) and Roaring Lion (2018). Sir Michael Stoute winners have been with Tartan Bearer (2008), Carlton House (2011) and Desert Crown (2022). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Dante Stakes is Andrew Balding (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Dante 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):

Dante Stakes Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the Dante Stakes over the last 20 renewals with Ryan Moore, William Buick and Oisin Murphy having all won the race three times. Ryan Moore winners have been with Tartan Bearer (2008), Carlton House (2011) and The Grey Gatsby (2014). William Buick winners have been with Libertarian (2013), Golden Horn (2015) and Hurricane Lane (2021). Oisin Murphy winners have been with Roaring Lion (2018), Telecaster (2019) and The Foxes (2023). Other jockeys who have recorded multiple wins in the Dante Stakes are Frankie Dettori (2 wins) and Franny Norton (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Dante 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):

Dante Stakes Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +51.66 is when runners had 2 career starts. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners were 5th in the betting market, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-20.

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

• 2024: Winner in 6 (5) [7 Runners]
• 2023: Winner in 2 (6,3,1) [11 Runners]
• 2022: Winner in 3 (1,2) [8 Runners]
• 2021: Winner in 11 (5,10) [10 Runners]
• 2020: Winner in 2 (3) [6 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Dante Stakes is Newmarket (Rowley), there has been a total number of 6 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (Rowley) last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Newbury, there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Newbury last time out.

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

• Montjeu (2 Wins)
• New Approach (2 Wins)
• Night Of Thunder (2 Wins)
• Sadlers Wells (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Dante Stakes despite multiple attempts:

• Dubawi (0 Wins from 9 runners)
• Kingman (0 Wins from 5 runners)
• Sea The Stars (0 Wins from 5 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Libertarian in 2013, winning for Mrs K Burke at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of William Buick. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 5 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 Dante 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 Dante Festival

Remember to head over to the York predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters are supporting in the Dante Stakes. 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