Clipper Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Ebor Festival)

Updated: 1773 Horse Racing

See which trainers and jockeys have performed well in this fact-packed blog for the Clipper Handicap. This is a race that is hosted at York during the Ebor Festival with the race being run over a distance of 1m, see which trends the past winners of the Clipper Handicap have set for this year.

Clipper Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Ebor Festival)
In this article: Preview
Andy Powell Content Editor

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 Clipper Handicap Preview

The Clipper Handicap takes place on the second day of the York Ebor Festival in August of each year, the race is open to runners who are aged three or older and is run over a trip just shy of a mile (seven furlongs, one hundred and ninety-two yards).

It's a race where if you can find the winner then you will be rewarded as six of the last ten winners came in at double-figure prices, four of those 20/1 or bigger!

Clipper Handicap Information:

Our dedicated York tips page will not only bring you predictions from the OLBG racing tipsters for the upcoming card that includes the Clipper Handicap but will also have predictions for each meeting at York throughout the season so be sure to head over there. 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 Clipper Handicap market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2010 when the race had an over-round of 119%. The race in 2023 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 133%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Clipper Handicap, the over-round has been 128%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £128 which is bet.

Clipper Handicap Trends:

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 Clipper Handicap next time out then you would have backed a total of 1 winner. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -17.09. Remember to bookmark the racing tips page to easily access the OLBG racing picks daily.

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 1:34.59 was set by Blue For You in 2022, which is the quickest time over that period, the runner was trained by David O'Meara and ridden by Daniel Tudhope. The slowest winning time was set in 2017 when Flaming Spear won in a time of 1:41.27, booked to ride was Robert Winston by the trainer Kevin Ryan.

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

  1. Blue For You (1:34.59) in 2022
  2. Ropey Guest (1:34.87) in 2023
  3. Thunder Run (1:35.90) in 2024

Clipper Handicap Past Winners

Here are the Clipper 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 Clipper Handicap are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2024
1:35.90
Thunder Run (IRE)
3yo 8-9 (6 of 18) 6/1
David Egan
K R Burke (GB)
2023
1:34.87
Ropey Guest (GB)
6yo 9-2 (8 of 19) 40/1
Tom Queally
George Margarson (GB)
2022
1:34.59
Blue For You (IRE)
4yo 9-2 (1 of 18) 11/2F
Daniel Tudhope
David O'Meara (GB)
2021
1:36.03
Cruyff Turn (GB)
4yo 9-1 (8 of 18) 28/1
David Allan
Tim Easterby (GB)
2020
1:37.20
Montatham (GB)
4yo 9-4 (2 of 17) 7/2
Jim Crowley
William Haggas (GB)
2019
1:36.14
Whats The Story (GB)
5yo 9-6 (14 of 18) 12/1
Joe Fanning
Keith Dalgleish (GB)
2018
1:36.96
Poets Society (GB)
4yo 9-0 (15 of 18) 20/1
Frankie Dettori
Mark Johnston (GB)
2017
1:41.27
Flaming Spear (IRE)
5yo 9-2 (4 of 17) 10/1
Robert Winston
Kevin Ryan (GB)
2016
1:36.70
Firmament (GB)
4yo 8-13 (1 of 20) 8/1
Daniel Tudhope
David O'Meara (GB)
2015
1:37.00
Chil The Kite (GB)
6yo 9-10 (9 of 18) 20/1
George Baker
Hughie Morrison (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 58 placings from 358 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 1 runner

Clipper Handicap Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Clipper Handicap over the last 20 renewals is David O'Meara who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Mont Ras (2013), Firmament (2016) and Blue For You (2022). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Clipper Handicap is William Haggas (2 wins). Two trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Clipper Handicap, Richard Fahey has sent a total of 18 runners to the race without recording any wins whilst Saeed bin Suroor has sent out 11 without a winner.

Here are some of the top Clipper 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):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
David O'Meara57-3-13-15.50-7.56
William Haggas15-2-2-1.50-5.81
Tim Easterby10-1-1+19.00+8.50
Kevin Ryan8-1-2+3.00+1.50
K R Burke6-1-2+1.00+0.19
David Simcock5-1-2+8.00+4.75
Hugo Palmer4-1-2+5.00+3.75
William Jarvis3-1-1+3.00+1.13
George Margarson2-1-1+39.00+24.00
Hughie Morrison2-1-1+19.00+11.50

Clipper Handicap Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Clipper Handicap over the last 20 renewals is Daniel Tudhope who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Firmament (2016) and Blue For You (2022). Two jockeys have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Clipper Handicap, Ryan Moore has ridden 10 runners to the race without recording any wins whilst Silvestre De Sousa has ridden 10 without a winner.

Here are some of the top Clipper 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):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Daniel Tudhope11-2-6+4.50+6.75
Frankie Dettori11-1-3+10.00+6.25
Joe Fanning10-1-3+3.00+1.88
Jamie Spencer9-1-2+4.00+0.75
William Buick9-1-1-3.00-4.87
Tom Queally7-1-1+34.00+19.00
Jim Crowley7-1-1-2.50-3.81
David Allan6-1-1+23.00+12.50
Kerrin McEvoy3-1-1+4.00+1.75
Harry Bentley2-1-1+24.00+14.63

Clipper Handicap Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +116.00 is when runners had 1 career start over further. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had a highest class placed of Class 1 (L), when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-72.

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

  • 2024: Winner in 6 (8,1,5) [18 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 8 (14,10,12) [19 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 1 (7,14,11) [18 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 8 (18,17,15) [18 Runners]
  • 2020: Winner in 2 (11,13,5) [17 Runners]

The courses that have produced the most winners of the Clipper Handicap are Goodwood and Ascot, there has been a total number of 5 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 355 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 4 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Clipper Handicap, that stallion Cape Cross has produced 3 winners (2016,2014,2009).

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

  • Dark Angel (0 Wins from 14 runners)
  • Invincible Spirit (0 Wins from 13 runners)
  • Dansili (0 Wins from 9 runners)
  • Danehill Dancer (0 Wins from 8 runners)
  • Pivotal (0 Wins from 8 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Ropey Guest in 2023, winning for George Margarson at odds of 40/1 under the guidance of Tom Queally. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 2 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2025 Clipper 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

Remember to head over to the York predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters support in the Clipper 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.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
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.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
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.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
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.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
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 Clipper 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

Darren Brett

Tipster competition manager

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Content editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for flat racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful flat racing blogs for OLBG.

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)

Races in July

Races in October

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