Once again Channel 4's coverage of four races each day was excellent. The highlight for me was the lovely Emma Spencer interviewing her husband Jamie after he had won the Ebor Handicap on the handicap good thing Purple Moon. I wonder what they talk about at night ? Seriously though, congratulations must go the Luca Cumani team for improving the horse after an unsuccessful spell over hurdles. The Ebor is the richest handicap in the world and the Cumani stable was winning it for the third time since 1999. On only his fourth appearance on a racecourse Honolulu ran a tremendous race for a three year old. On 9 stone 2 pounds he only carried two pounds less than Purple Moon and was only beaten 3/4 of a length. Those two were 2 and 1/2 lengths in front of everything else. I wonder if Aidan O'Brien will run him in the St. Leger ? Peeping Fawn was running her tenth race of the season in the Yorkshire Oaks and is another horse that has improved with every run. She is tough, consistent and acts on any going. Will she run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe ? I would rather be taking the 7/1 about her winning than the 2/1 about Authorized. He reversed Eclipse placings with Notnowcato and beat Dylan Thomas the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner. At Royal Ascot over 10 furlongs Manduro beat Dylan Thomas and Notnowcato. It is building up for an intriguing race in France at the beginning of October. Lucarno was a good winner of the Great Voltigeur and is probably going for the St Leger but as already mentioned I would rather be on Honolulu. The lightly raced Septimus returned to winning ways in the Lonsdale Cup. He looks a ready made staying replacement for the Coolmore team when Yeats has finished his racing. For the first time in fifteen years the Nunthorpe Stakes was won by a two year old in Kingsgate Native who happened to still be a maiden. The generous weight for age allowance was highlighted by Jim McGrath of Timeform when discussing the race with John Francome. The next big race to look forward to will be the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup over six furlongs on Saturday 8th September. Sakhee's Secret is a antepost favourite for this and it is difficult to see him getting beat if he turns up in the same form as at Newmarket. For all your racecards with the runners and riders go to the sporting life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

A month after I left the King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford in 1958, Gladness won the Ebor Handicap at York carrying 9 stone 7 pounds. The race was a much more important race than it is nowadays. In terms of first prize money it ranked ninth among among the season's races, behind only the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Derby, the Oaks, the St Leger, the Two Thousand Guineas, the One Thousand Guineas, the Eclipse Stakes and the Ascot Gold Cup. Gladness won the Ascot Gold Cup and the Goodwood Cup in the same season as her Ebor triumph. In 1959 Primera carried 9 stone to victory in the Ebor and was afterwards fifth in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe, only a short head and two short necks behind the dead-heat winners Saint Crespin III and Midnight Sun. In those days the Ebor certainly attracted horses of the highest quality. The Ebor is still a fabulous race and is Europe's most valuable handicap. There have been many memorable performances over the years. Probably the most popular winner in the last thirty odd years was that of Sea Pigeon who carried 10 stone to victory with Jonjo O'Neill in the saddle in 1979. Amongst the wide margin winners have been the three year olds Sir Montegu in 1976 and the ill fated Kneller in 1988. It takes a good three year old to win the Ebor and in the last twenty six runnings of the race eleven have been won by three year olds. It is usually the late developing, fast improving sort. Aidan O'Brien holds a strong hand with Honolulu and Mahler. But which one will run ? They both hold an entry in the Great Voltigeur Stakes. Tranquil Tiger from the Henry Cecil yard is another three year old with strong claims. The yard last won the race with Tuning in 1998 who became the first female to win since Gladness in 1958. Prior to that Kneller was an impressive three year old winner in 1988 for Henry Cecil. Of the older horses Luca Cumani has two fancied runners in Purple Moon and Samurai Way. Paul Cole has Strategic Mount who won at Ascot last Saturday and goes well on a fast surface, and Roger Charlton has Group Captain who won the November Stakes run at Windsor last season. The field will be limited to twenty runners so some of those mentioned might not get a run. For your race card with the runners and riders go the sporting life. For those who want to go down memory lane I have collated the winners of the Ebor since 1958 with the three year olds shown in capitals. 1958 Gladness, 1959 Primera, 1960 Persian Road, 1961 Die Hard, 1962 Sostenuto, 1963 PARTHOLON (see my York Spring Meeting Blog), 1964 Proper Pride, 1965 Twelfth Man, 1966 Lomond, 1967 OVALTINE (first sponsorship by Johnny Walker), 1968 ALIGNMENT, 1969 Big Hat, 1970 Tintagel II, 1971 Knotty Pine, 1972 Crazy Rhythm, 1973 Bonne Noel, 1974 Anji (New Sponsor in Terry's All Gold), 1975 Dakota, 1976 SIR MONTAGU(New Sponsor in Tote who still continue to sponsor), 1977 Move Off, 1978 Totowah, 1979 Sea Pigeon, 1980 Shaftesbury, 1981 PROTECTION RACKET, 1982 Another Sam, 1983 Jupiter Island, 1984 CRAZY, 1985 Western Dancer, 1986 PRIMARY, 1987 Daarkom, 1988 KNELLER, 1989 SAPIENCE, 1990 Further Flight, 1991 DEPOSKI, 1992 Quick Ransom, 1993 Sarawat, 1994 Hasten to Add, 1995 SANMARTINO, 1996 CLERKENWELL, 1997 Far Ahead, 1998 TUNING, 1999 Vicious Circle, 2000 GIVE THE SLIP, 2001 MEDITERRANEAN, 2002 Hugs Dancer, 2003 Saint Alebe, 2004 Mephisto, 2005 Sergeant Cecil and 2006 Mudawin. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

The superb York Ebor Festival gets underway next Tuesday 21st August with the Group 1 Juddmonte International for 3yo's+ over one mile two furlongs being the feature race with prize money of £525,000 making it the richest race of the three days. This could be a re-run of the Eclipse with Authorized, Notnowcato and George Washington all due to run. There are two supporting Group races with the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes for 3yo colts and geldings run over one and a half miles with prize money of £135,000 and the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup for 3yo's+ with prize money of £125,000 run over two miles in which the blogger hopes Distinction runs well. Wednesday is Ebor day, the richest handicap run in Europe. The race is for 3yo's+ run over one mile six furlongs with prize money of £200,000. It is always very competitive and is still one of my favourite races to watch and try and find the winner. I will go into more detail about the race in another blog. One of the supporting races will be the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks run over one and a half miles for 3yo's+ fillies and mares. This race has prize money of £290,000. The other Group race is the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes for 2yo colts over six furlongs with prize money of £130,000. Thursday has the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes for 2yo's+ run over 5 furlongs as the feature race. This race carries prize money of £220,000. Also on the card will be the St Leger Yearling Stakes run over six furlongs which will carry prize money of £300,000 and the Group 2 Lowther Stakes for 2yo fillies run over six furlongs with prize money of £85,000. For your racecards with all the runners and riders go to the sporting life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

Well the sun certainly shone for most of the five days at Goodwood. Channel 4's coverage of four races each day was excellent. Their next big meeting to cover will be the Ebor meeting at York. On Tuesday at Goodwood Tariq was a good winner of the Betfair Cup over 7 furlongs. His trainer, Peter Chapple-Hyam, is comparing him favourably with Dutch Art who is also in his care. Wednesday belonged mainly to Godolphin. Their Rio de la Plata was an exciting winner of the Vintage Stakes and followed up his easy victory at the Newmarket July meeting. Ramonti proved what a tough horse he is with his win in the Sussex Stakes. Thursday belonged to Ryan Moore who rode four winners including Allegretto who won the Goodwood Cup for the Michael Stoute stable. Their other runner, Distinction, ran a nice race after a long time off the track and will now go for the Lonsdale Cup at York's Ebor meeting. Friday saw Third Set follow up his Ascot success and run away with the Totesport Mile. Saturday belonged to Peeping Fawn who was mighty impressive in the Nassau Stakes. She showed that a good horse can go on any ground. There was a super finish to the Stewards Cup with Zidane just getting the nod over Borderlescott who very nearly won the race for the second year. He and Balthazaar's Gift who ran a cracking race under top weight paid a huge complement to Sakhee's Secret who had them behind him at Newmarket. Likewise over in France on Sunday Marchand D'Or reversed Newmarket placings with Dutch Art. They were second and fourth to Sakhee's Secret in the July Cup. Difficult to see Sakhee's Secret getting beat this season. For all the latest runners and riders go to racecards at the sporting life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".