York is host to Flat racing and fixtures are scheduled throughout the spring and summer months. The York Ebor Festival is the venue?s most historic meeting. Rich in tradition, the meeting boasts Europe?s most valuable Flat handicap race, the Ebor, along with the Group 1 Juddmonte International, the Nunthorpe and the Yorkshire Oaks. The Group 1 Dante held in May is deemed a major Derby trial and victors often go on to take the biggest crown of all at Epsom in June.
The track is a left-handed course and is a big, fair, flat galloping track. In 2005, the track was converted into a circuit and often suits those who come from off the pace, making for fiercely competitive and fascinating racing.
The first race meeting recorded at York racecourse was in 1731 on the Knavesmire - a mire with a stream running through it. The inaugural race was the King?s Plate worth 100 guineas in mid-August which evolved to become the famous Ebor meeting.
The first grandstand was erected in 1754 financed by 250 people and the York racecourse committee was founded in 1842 as the quality of the racing dwindled and the Gimcrack Stakes was founded in 1846, which is staged to this day.
There were a stream of changes and improvements made to the course over the following years, the track was made circular and grandstands were erected, including the County Stand which remains today. Paddock improvements were made and the course has become one of the most magnificent in the UK.
