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 Finale Handicap Preview
Established in 2015, this race is a class two heritage handicap that is contested over a distance of one mile and six furlongs, the race is open to runners who are aged three years old and is scheduled to take place in October of each year at the York racecourse.
Finale Handicap Information:
Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated York tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet? 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 Finale Handicap market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 10 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2015 when the race had an over-round of 111%. The race in 2019 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 130%, whilst on average over the last 10 renewals of the Finale Handicap, the over-round has been 120%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £120 which is bet.
Finale Handicap Trends:
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 10 if you had followed the winner of the Finale Handicap next time out then you would have backed a total of 0 winners. Backing all 8 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -8.00. Ahead of the 2025 Finale Handicap why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?
The runner that holds the record over the past 10 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2024 renewal when Minstrel Knight from Edward Bethell under the guidance of Aidan Keeley, won in a time of 3:09.78, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Calvinist, trained by Brian Meehan and ridden by Kieren Fox set the quickest time of 2:58.08 in the 2016 renewal.
These are the top three quickest-run Finale Handicap over the last 10 renewals:
- Calvinist (2:58.08) in 2016
- Elegiac (3:00.02) in 2018
- Brimham Rocks (3:01.02) in 2017
Finale Handicap Past Winners
Here are the Finale 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 Finale Handicap are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 3:09.78 | Minstrel Knight (GB) 3yo 8-10 (6 of 7) 7/1 | Aidan Keeley Edward Bethell (GB) |
| 2023 3:09.66 | Lordship (GER) 3yo 9-3 (4 of 11) 13/2 | Adam Farragher (3lbs) William Haggas (GB) |
| 2022 3:04.52 | Post Impressionist (IRE) 3yo 8-9 (3 of 14) 6/1 | Adam Farragher (5lbs) William Haggas (GB) |
| 2021 3:07.90 | Surrey Gold (IRE) 3yo 8-10 (4 of 13) 9/2 | Sean Levey Hughie Morrison (GB) |
| 2020 3:06.57 | Prince Alex (GB) 3yo 8-4 (7 of 11) 5/1 | Harry Bentley Ralph Beckett (GB) |
| 2019 3:08.31 | Hamish (GB) 3yo 9-7 (9 of 17) 13/8F | Daniel Tudhope William Haggas (GB) |
| 2018 3:00.02 | Elegiac (GB) 3yo 8-12 (5 of 12) 6/1 | Silvestre De Sousa Mark Johnston (GB) |
| 2017 3:01.02 | Brimham Rocks (GB) 3yo 8-8 (6 of 13) 16/1 | Richard Kingscote Ralph Beckett (GB) |
| 2016 2:58.08 | Calvinist (GB) 3yo 8-2 (6 of 14) 16/1 | Kieren Fox Brian Meehan (GB) |
| 2015 3:05.92 | Swaheen (GB) 3yo 8-13 (6 of 6) 8/1 | Joe Doyle (3lbs) Julie Camacho (GB) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Finale Handicap have been based:
- GB: 10 winners with an additional 19 placings from 116 runners
- IRE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
- AUS: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
Finale Handicap Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Finale Handicap over the last 10 renewals is William Haggas who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Hamish (2019), Post Impressionist (2022) and Lordship (2023). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Finale Handicap is Ralph Beckett (2 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Finale Handicap, Andrew Balding has sent a total of 10 runners to the race without recording any wins.
Here are some of the top Finale Handicap trainer statistics over the last 10 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 | 11-3-4 | +6.13 | +1.54 |
| Ralph Beckett | 6-2-4 | +17.00 | +12.01 |
| Hughie Morrison | 4-1-2 | +1.50 | +1.00 |
| Julie Camacho | 2-1-1 | +7.00 | +4.00 |
| Brian Meehan | 1-1-1 | +16.00 | +10.00 |
| Edward Bethell | 1-1-1 | +7.00 | +4.38 |
| Andrew Balding | 10-0-3 | -10.00 | -6.54 |
| John Gosden | 7-0-0 | -7.00 | -7.00 |
| Tim Easterby | 5-0-1 | -5.00 | -2.50 |
| Roger Varian | 5-0-1 | -5.00 | -3.80 |
Finale Handicap Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the Finale Handicap over the last 10 renewals is Adam Farragher who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Post Impressionist (2022) and Lordship (2023).
Here are some of the top Finale Handicap jockey statistics over the last 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Farragher | 2-2-2 | +12.50 | +7.65 |
| Daniel Tudhope | 4-1-1 | -1.37 | -1.98 |
| Richard Kingscote | 3-1-2 | +14.00 | +9.25 |
| Silvestre De Sousa | 3-1-2 | +4.00 | +3.31 |
| Harry Bentley | 2-1-1 | +4.00 | +2.00 |
| Sean Levey | 2-1-2 | +3.50 | +3.06 |
| Joe Doyle | 1-1-1 | +8.00 | +5.00 |
| Aidan Keeley | 1-1-1 | +7.00 | +4.38 |
| Franny Norton | 5-0-0 | -5.00 | -5.00 |
| Andrew Mullen | 4-0-2 | -4.00 | -0.44 |
2025 Finale Handicap Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 4, 2, 8, 7, 1, 8, 3, 4, 2, 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.
- 10 / 10 (64%) - In a field of 7 - 12 (LTO)
- 10 / 10 (66%) - No bigger than 16/1
- 10 / 10 (73%) - Furthest ran 1m2f - 1m6f
- 10 / 10 (76%) - Off a break of 14 - 49 days
- 10 / 10 (76%) - Won by at least ¾ (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (76%) - Highest Run is not G1-3/Cl4-5
- 10 / 10 (78%) - Furthest Placed 1m2f - 1m6f
- 10 / 10 (81%) - Ran in 4 - 11 races (Career)
- 10 / 10 (81%) - Dam is not GER/USA bred
- 10 / 10 (81%) - Not on HY/GF/FM (Debut)
- 10 / 10 (81%) - Within the first 10 of the market
- 10 / 10 (83%) - No more than -19lbs (Vs Max Weight)
- 10 / 10 (83%) - Not on STD-SLW/STD (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (86%) - Not on STD-SLW/STD (LTO)
- 10 / 10 (88%) - Achieved an RPR of 85+ (Last 3)
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the York racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Finale Handicap. Maybe you are looking to back something in this race on the tote, but you are not sure of the process or how the tote works, No problem! We have an article which is dedicated to The Tote for you to read which explains everything you need to know! Be sure to check out the other 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 Finale Handicap by adding a tip on the race here.
Finale Handicap Trend Analysis
The trend factor which had produced 5+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +33.50 is when runners had 7 season starts. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 3 season places, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-32.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 6 (4) [7 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 4 (14,12) [11 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 3 (2,11) [14 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 4 (9,3) [13 Runners]
- 2020: Winner in 7 (9,1) [11 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Finale Handicap is Haydock, there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Haydock last time out.
The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 10 winners from a total of 112 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 6 runners.
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Finale Handicap despite multiple attempts:
- Nathaniel (0 Wins from 7 runners)
- Frankel (0 Wins from 5 runners)
- Mastercraftsman (0 Wins from 5 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 10 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Brimham Rocks in 2017, winning for Ralph Beckett at odds of 16/1 under the guidance of Richard Kingscote. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 10 renewals there have been 1 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 Finale Handicap remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Finale 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.
Darren Brett
Tipster Competition Manager
Andy Powell
Content Editor
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 August (Ebor Festival)
- Acomb Stakes
- Great Voltigeur Stakes
- Juddmonte International Stakes
- Symphony Group Handicap
- York Ebor Festival Stayers Handicap
- Clipper 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
