Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2025 Melrose Heritage Handicap Preview
The Melrose Stakes is a heritage handicap that features on the final day of the York Ebor Festival which is run in August of each year, the race features on the same day as the Ebor Handicap.
This Class 2 race is open to three-year-old runners only and is run over one mile, five furlongs and one hundred and eighty-eight yards.
Melrose Heritage Handicap Information:
- Melrose Heritage Handicap Past Winners
- Melrose Heritage Handicap Trainer Statistics
- Melrose Heritage Handicap 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 Melrose Heritage Handicap market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 19 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2006 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 133%, whilst on average over the last 19 renewals of the Melrose Heritage Handicap, the over-round has been 125%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £125 which is bet.
Melrose Heritage Handicap Trends:
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 19 if you had followed the winner of the Melrose Heritage Handicap next time out then you would have backed a total of 5 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -2.62. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2025 Melrose Heritage Handicap.
Over the last 19 renewals, it was Tawqeet, trained by John Dunlop and ridden by Richard Hills who set the fastest winning time in the Melrose Heritage Handicap, the runner won the race in a time of 2:53.82 when winning the race in 2005. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer James Given and jockey Jamie Mackay with Trick Or Treat who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 3:03.88 in the 2006 renewal.
These are the top three quickest-run Melrose Heritage Handicap over the last 19 renewals:
- Tawqeet (2:53.82) in 2005
- Ghostwatch (2:53.87) in 2018
- Soulcombe (2:55.85) in 2022
Melrose Heritage Handicap Past Winners
Here are the Melrose Heritage 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 horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Melrose Heritage Handicap are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 2:57.85 | Tabletalk (IRE) 3yo 9-3 (4 of 16) 12/1 | Rossa Ryan Tom Clover (GB) |
| 2023 2:56.63 | Middle Earth (GB) 3yo 9-3 (9 of 13) 9/2F | Oisin Murphy John & Thady Gosden (GB) |
| 2022 2:55.85 | Soulcombe (GB) 3yo 8-4 (11 of 13) 3/1F | Hollie Doyle William Haggas (GB) |
| 2021 2:56.50 | Valley Forge (GB) 3yo 8-8 (16 of 22) 10/1 | David Probert Andrew Balding (GB) |
| 2020 3:02.77 | Coltrane (IRE) 3yo 8-8 (8 of 14) 12/1 | Oisin Murphy Andrew Balding (GB) |
| 2019 2:56.08 | Hamish (GB) 3yo 9-3 (6 of 12) 7/1 | James Doyle William Haggas (GB) |
| 2018 2:53.87 | Ghostwatch (IRE) 3yo 8-13 (1 of 16) 10/1 | William Buick Charlie Appleby (GB) |
| 2017 2:57.27 | Secret Advisor (FR) 3yo 9-2 (13 of 19) 5/1F | James Doyle Charlie Appleby (GB) |
| 2016 2:56.94 | Wall Of Fire (IRE) 3yo 9-6 (4 of 13) 16/1 | William Buick Hugo Palmer (GB) |
| 2015 3:01.84 | Polarisation (GB) 3yo 8-7 (19 of 18) 28/1 | Liam Jones Mark Johnston (GB) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Melrose Heritage Handicap have been based:
- GB: 18 winners with an additional 41 placings from 265 runners
- IRE: 1 winner with an additional 6 placings from 17 runners
- HK: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
- FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
Melrose Heritage Handicap Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Melrose Heritage Handicap over the last 19 renewals is William Haggas who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Guarantee (2012), Hamish (2019) and Soulcombe (2022). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Melrose Heritage Handicap are Andrew Balding (2 wins) and Charlie Appleby (2 wins). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 19 renewals in the Melrose Heritage Handicap, Michael Bell (0-13), Sir Michael Stoute (0-13) and Ralph Beckett (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.
Here are some of the top Melrose Heritage Handicap trainer statistics over the last 19 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):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Haggas | 13-3-4 | +9.00 | +2.95 |
| Andrew Balding | 19-2-6 | +5.00 | +5.00 |
| Charlie Appleby | 5-2-2 | +12.00 | +6.38 |
| Hughie Morrison | 8-1-2 | +9.00 | +4.13 |
| Hugo Palmer | 4-1-2 | +13.00 | +8.63 |
| John & Thady Gosden | 4-1-1 | +1.50 | -0.19 |
| Tom Clover | 1-1-1 | +12.00 | +7.50 |
| A J Martin | 1-1-1 | +8.00 | +4.80 |
| Michael Bell | 13-0-3 | -13.00 | -3.37 |
| Sir Michael Stoute | 13-0-4 | -13.00 | -8.22 |
Melrose Heritage Handicap Jockey Statistics
There are multiple leading jockeys in the Melrose Heritage Handicap over the last 19 renewals with William Buick, Oisin Murphy and James Doyle having all won the race two times. William Buick winners have been with Wall Of Fire (2016) and Ghostwatch (2018). Oisin Murphy winners have been with Coltrane (2020) and Middle Earth (2023). James Doyle's winners have been with Secret Advisor (2017) and Hamish (2019). There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the Melrose Heritage Handicap, Silvestre De Sousa has ridden 10 runners to the race without recording any wins.
Here are some of the top Melrose Heritage Handicap jockey statistics over the last 19 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):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Buick | 8-2-5 | +20.00 | +17.63 |
| Oisin Murphy | 5-2-3 | +13.50 | +8.56 |
| James Doyle | 5-2-2 | +9.00 | +4.51 |
| David Probert | 8-1-3 | +3.00 | +3.25 |
| Jamie Spencer | 7-1-5 | -2.00 | +3.38 |
| Frankie Dettori | 6-1-2 | +4.00 | +1.50 |
| Hollie Doyle | 4-1-1 | +0.00 | -1.12 |
| Richard Kingscote | 3-1-2 | +14.00 | +11.00 |
| Liam Jones | 2-1-1 | +27.00 | +16.50 |
| Franny Norton | 2-1-2 | +7.00 | +5.50 |
2025 Melrose Heritage Handicap Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 3, 2, 1, (4, 6), (1, 4, 10, 14), 9, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 1, 4, 2, 11, 4, 1, (1, 4), 12
The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well.
- 19 / 19 (80%) - Break of 7 - 73 days (Last Place)
- 19 / 19 (81%) - Break of 7 - 118 days (Last Win)
- 19 / 19 (81%) - Carried 121 - 134lbs (Last Win)
- 19 / 19 (82%) - Furthest ran 1m2f - 1m6f
- 19 / 19 (82%) - Off a break of 7 - 44 days
- 19 / 19 (84%) - No bigger than 20/1 (Career Place)
- 19 / 19 (86%) - No bigger than 28/1
- 19 / 19 (86%) - Had 1 - 6 placings (90 Days)
- 19 / 19 (88%) - In a field of 5 - 16 (LTO)
- 19 / 19 (88%) - Ran in 2 - 9 races (90 Days)
- 19 / 19 (88%) - Had 1 - 4 wins (Season)
- 19 / 19 (89%) - Furthest Won 1m - 1m6f
- 18 / 19 (82%) - Held an OR of 83+
- 18 / 19 (85%) - Placed within last 2 starts
- 18 / 19 (86%) - No more than +18lbs (Vs Min Weight)
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the York racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Melrose Heritage Handicap. If you are a newcomer to horse racing betting, then the number of types of bets can be scary! Don't let that put you off though, head over to this Types Of Horse Racing Bet article and have a read, you will then have a better knowledge of betting on racing in the future and there are plenty of other articles in the OLBG Betting School too.
Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Melrose Heritage Handicap by adding a tip on the race here.
Melrose Heritage Handicap Trend Analysis
The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 2 career starts in the class, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-48.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 4 (12,2,13) [16 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 9 (7,4) [13 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 11 (13,8) [13 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 16 (17,14,10) [22 Runners]
- 2020: Winner in 8 (15,1) [14 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Melrose Heritage Handicap is Goodwood, there has been a total number of 6 winners of this race who ran at Goodwood last time out. The next best courses which have produced the second most winners are Ascot and Newmarket (July), 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 17 winners from a total of 263 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 2 winners from a total of 21 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Melrose Heritage Handicap:
- Dubawi (2 Wins)
- Montjeu (2 Wins)
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Melrose Heritage Handicap despite multiple attempts:
- Galileo (0 Wins from 18 runners)
- Sea The Stars (0 Wins from 10 runners)
- Golden Horn (0 Wins from 8 runners)
- Hernando (0 Wins from 7 runners)
- Australia (0 Wins from 6 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 19 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Polarisation in 2015, winning for Mark Johnston at odds of 28/1 under the guidance of Liam Jones. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 19 renewals there have been 5 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 Melrose Heritage Handicap 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 Melrose Heritage Handicap. 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.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:50 York Symphony Group Handicap | Jm Jungle (IRE) 4yo - 10/1 | John & Sean Quinn Jason Hart |
| 14:25 York Acomb Stakes | The Lion In Winter (IRE) 2yo - 2/1 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| 15:00 York Great Voltigeur Stakes | Los Angeles (IRE) 3yo - 5/4 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| 15:35 York Juddmonte International Stakes | City Of Troy (USA) 3yo - 5/4 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| 16:10 York York Ebor Festival Stayers Handicap | Extensio (IRE) 7yo - 14/1 | P F O'Donnell J M Sheridan |
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.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:50 York Lowther Stakes | Celandine (GB) 2yo - 13/2 | Ed Walker Tom Marquand |
| 14:25 York Premier Yearling Stakes | Diligently (GB) 2yo - 22/1 | Clive Cox Rossa Ryan |
| 15:00 York Clipper Handicap | Thunder Run (IRE) 3yo - 6/1 | K R Burke David Egan |
| 15:35 York Yorkshire Oaks | Content (IRE) 3yo - 3/1 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| 16:10 York Galtres Stakes | Scenic (FR) 4yo - 8/1 | Ed Walker Oisin Murphy |
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.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:50 York York Ebor Festival Sky Bet Handicap | Shadow Dance (GB) 4yo - 6/1 | Roger Varian James Doyle |
| 14:25 York Lonsdale Cup | Vauban (FR) 6yo - 11/2 | W P Mullins William Buick |
| 15:00 York Gimcrack Stakes | Cool Hoof Luke (GB) 2yo - 8/1 | Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy |
| 15:35 York Nunthorpe Stakes | Bradsell (GB) 4yo - 3/1 | Archie Watson Hollie Doyle |
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.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 13:50 York Strensall Stakes | See The Fire (GB) 3yo - 3/1 | Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy |
| 14:25 York Melrose Heritage Handicap | Tabletalk (IRE) 3yo - 12/1 | Tom Clover Rossa Ryan |
| 15:00 York City of York Stakes | Breege (GB) 4yo - 33/1 | John & Sean Quinn Colin Keane |
| 15:35 York Ebor Handicap | Magical Zoe (IRE) 6yo - 11/2 | Henry De Bromhead W J Lee |
| 16:45 York Roses Stakes | Tropical Storm (GB) 2yo - 5/2 | Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy |
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Melrose Heritage Handicap Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for Flat Racing.
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
Races in October
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