York Racecourse's Dante Festival offers taste of summer - The Yorkshire Post says

Nothing signals the promise of summer ahead quite like the horse racing season in Yorkshire.

By YP

Published 13th May 2022, 16:45 BST

The famous three-day Dante Festival started York’s own 2022 season on the Knavesmire on Wednesday and hosts the finale today.

The meeting is offering a record prize fund of £1.35m – part of an overall purse of £10m across the 18-day season – as the racing season seeks to continue its recovery from pandemic cancellations.

Today, three-time Ascot Gold Cup winner Stradivarius bids for a third win in the Yorkshire Cup.

The Gosden-trained eight-year-old is unbeaten at York and is looking to join Great Habton trainer Tim Easterby’s Copper Knight as the joint-top winning horse at the track, if he can secure a sixth triumph overall.

York chief executive William Derby last week said he was “really excited” to welcome racegoers for the first time since the 2019 event.

The feeling is mutual – as it is for the brilliant calendar of racing ahead.