Racing set to heat up at York after high stakes Dante Festival proves a success
William Derby is preparing to welcome some 18,000 people today, as York Racecourse’s clerk to Knavesmire’s first Saturday meeting of the year, including thousands of students from Leeds and York universities.
He said: "A lot of them have never been racing before and it creates a really good atmosphere. After racing there will be a show by a Take That tribute band.
“They’re forecasting a heatwave”, adds William. “That’s great, especially after last week. It was cold!”
William, who has also served as the venue’s chief executive since 2003, said cooler temperatures had impacted on the gate of last week’s three-day Dante Festival’s, especially in the Clock Tower Enclosure. Nevertheless, more than 30,000 people had turned out for the meeting.
William said: “We had some really impressive winners, of the feature races especially, with the record prize money.”
Legacy Link displayed her finishing speed winning the strongly run Tattersalls Musidora and Item won the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante, and have gone into the Oaks and Derby as second favourite respectively. Meanwhile, St Leger runner-up Rahiebb won the Boodles Yorkshire Cup.
William said: “These races are really important stepping stones to the Derby and the big races ahead this summer. They looked really credible contenders for both Royal Ascot and Epsom."
William said: "The Dante Festival is very much about attracting the best horses to come here before racing at Epsom, Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and returning to us for the SkyBet Ebor Festival. It felt last week as though we were the winners of those races, we were seeing the best of horses, while some of our development races showcased the next generation of talent.”
The meeting was not without controversy as Brazilian jockey Diego Lima aboard 50-1 shot Ranting Duke at York in the 6f novice stakes was found guilty by stewards of hitting his mount above the permitted level in the stalls. He received a two-day ban after the race and a further 24 days on Tuesday after stewards saw him use his whip 11 times in the final two furlongs.
Two of the group two races had seen a £15,000 injection of prize money. The racecourse has invested further in prize money to attract higher quality horses, leading to the track’s profile increasing.
William said: "The SkyBet Ebor Festival is our flagship meeting, but we have invested across the season to make our contest valuable to attract horses at all levels to come here to compete and win. We are looking to reward all levels of ownerships, no race last week was worth less than £30,000, up £5,000 on the year before.
The meeting saw three Yorkshire-based winners of valuable handicaps, including Dark Thirty, trained by Malton-based John and Sean Quinn, while Sutton Bank trainer Kevin Ryan won with Dickensian and Norton trainer Brian Ellison with Fortification.
Also good for the racecourse’s profile was King Charles and Queen Camilla’s double on the final day, with Portcullis and Warrant Holder, both trained by the father-and-son team of John and Thady Gosden.
William said: “The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell was with us and was claiming credit, having blessed Warrant Holder before it ran! It was a giggle in the Winner’s Enclosure afterwards.
"He loved seeing an initiative we have introduced to have racecourse chaplains looking after both race-goers and staff.”
The opening day of the festival saw a female owner was rushed to hospital in Leeds and treated for a rare condition after collapsing in the Parade Ring and being assessed by the senior on-course doctor, an accident and emergency consultant.
Meanwhile, the following day six-year-old bay gelding Galeron reared up on its exit from the Parade Ring and flipped over backwards, landing in a hedge.
William said: “We’ve never had something like this before but we had rehearsed a similar incident with our medical and veterinary teams and so the racecourse vets were very good at getting to the horse quickly, sedating it and allowed us to extricate Galeron. “Other than a few nicks and scratches he was absolutely fine. It could have been a lot worse outcome if it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of staff.
"We have a skilled and well resourced medical and veterinary team on site for such incidents. We get the team together before the season starts and go through all our procedures and rehearse various scenarios so everyone knows what to do when.”