Melrose Heritage Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Ebor Festival)

2024 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 during the York Ebor Festival 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 124%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £124 which is bet.

Melrose Heritage Handicap Trends:

• 2024 Melrose Heritage Handicap Trends
• Melrose Heritage Handicap Trend Analysis

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 6 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +0.88. Before placing your bet on the 2024 Melrose Heritage Handicap see which other runners today are being backed on the racing predictions page.

The runner that holds the record over the past 19 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2004 renewal when Lost Soldier Three from Luca Cumani under the guidance of Kieren Fallon, won in a time of 3:04.67, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Tawqeet, trained by John Dunlop and ridden by Richard Hills set the quickest time of 2:53.82 in the 2005 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run Melrose Heritage Handicap over the last 19 renewals:

• 2005 - Tawqeet (2:53.82)
• 2018 - Ghostwatch (2:53.87)
• 2022 - Soulcombe (2:55.85)

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 trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Melrose Heritage 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 Melrose Heritage Handicap have been based:

• GB: 18 winners with an additional 41 placings from 265 runners
• IRE: 1 winner with an additional 5 placings from 14 runners
• FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
• HK: 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). There are multiple trainers who have not had the best of times over the last 19 renewals in the Melrose Heritage Handicap, Michael Bell (0-13), Sir Michael Stoute (0-12) 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):

Melrose Heritage Handicap Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the Melrose Heritage Handicap over the last 19 renewals with William Buick, James Doyle and Oisin Murphy having all won the race two times. William Buick winners have been with Wall Of Fire (2016) and Ghostwatch (2018). James Doyle's winners have been with Secret Advisor (2017) and Hamish (2019). Oisin Murphy winners have been with Coltrane (2020) and Middle Earth (2023).

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):

2024 Melrose Heritage Handicap Trends

Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 1, 3, 2, 1, (4, 6), (1, 4, 10, 14), 9, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 1, 4, 2, 11, 4, 1, (1, 4)

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 (81%) - Break of 6 - 73 days (Last Place)
• 19 / 19 (81%) - Break of 7 - 118 days (Last Win)
• 19 / 19 (81%) - Carried 121 - 134lbs (Last Win)
• 19 / 19 (83%) - Furthest ran 1m2f - 1m6f
• 19 / 19 (84%) - No bigger than 20/1 (Career Place)
• 19 / 19 (84%) - Off a break of 6 - 44 days
• 19 / 19 (86%) - No bigger than 28/1
• 19 / 19 (87%) - Had 1 - 6 placings (90 Days)
• 19 / 19 (88%) - In a field of 5 - 16 (LTO)
• 19 / 19 (88%) - Had 1 - 4 wins (Season)
• 19 / 19 (89%) - No more than +18lbs (Vs Min Weight)
• 19 / 19 (89%) - Furthest Won 1mf - 1m6f
• 19 / 19 (89%) - Made 2 - 9 starts (90 Days)
• 18 / 19 (82%) - Held an OR of 83+
• 18 / 19 (85%) - Placed within last 2 starts

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. How well do you know your horse racing? Are there certain types of races that you are unsure of? Why not take a look at this Types Of Horse Race article to familiarise yourself with the different types of racing, that is just one of many helpful horse racing articles in the OLBG Betting School.

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 trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +2.50 is when runners ran on Good ground on debut. 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:

• 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]
• 2019: Winner in 6 (5,1) [12 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 course which has produced the second most winners is Newmarket (July), there has been a total number of 3 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (July) 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 258 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 2 winners from a total of 23 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 17 runners)
• Sea The Stars (0 Wins from 8 runners)
• Golden Horn (0 Wins from 7 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 has been a total of 6 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2024 Melrose Heritage Handicap head over to see which other runners today are being backed by the best racing tipsters today.

Other Principal races during the York Ebor Festival

York Ebor festival races for Wednesday 21st August 2024

• 13:50: Symphony Group Handicap
• 14:25: Acomb Stakes
• 15:00: Great Voltigeur Stakes
• 15:35: Juddmonte International Stakes
• 16:10: York Ebor Festival Stayers Handicap

York Ebor festival races for Thursday 22nd August 2024

• 13:50: Lowther Stakes
• 14:25: Premier Yearling Stakes
• 15:00: Clipper Logistics Heritage Handicap
• 15:35: Yorkshire Oaks
• 16:10: Galtres Stakes

York Ebor festival races for Friday 23rd August 2024

• 13:50: York Ebor Festival Sky Bet Handicap
• 14:25: Lonsdale Cup
• 15:00: Gimcrack Stakes
• 15:35: Nunthorpe Stakes

York Ebor festival races for Saturday 24th August 2024

• 13:50: Strensall Stakes
• 14:25: Melrose Heritage Handicap
• 15:00: City of York Stakes
• 15:35: Ebor Handicap
• 16:45: Roses Stakes