York Ebor meeting: Yorkshire Oaks and more on day two – horse racing live
Key events
Just under half an hour to the opening Lowther Stakes here at York, and it has been raining steadily for a couple of hours now. There’s been around 4mm today in all, and while the official going remains good-to-soft, it is surely on the softer side of that.
The top three in the betting for the Yorkshire Oaks later shouldn’t be unduly affected, but it does make you wonder about the chance of Wesley Ward’s Bacio in tomorrow’s feature, the Nunthorpe Stakes.
He streaked home on fast ground at Royal Ascot last month and had been expected to start favourite fover a speed-favouring five furlongs. He has not raced on soft ground at any point in his career, however, and it is easy to see him tying up in the final furlong tomorrow, in similar fashion to Ward’s Lady Aurelia in the same race in 2017.
Preamble
Hello from a somewhat damp York racecourse on day two of the Ebor Festival 2026, when the Group One Yorkshire Oaks for fillies and mares will be the highlight of the Ladies’ Day card at 3.35.
As you would expect, the feature event has many of the great racemares of recent decades on its roll of honour, including Alpinista, who went on to land the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe a couple of months later, just four years ago, and the likes of Enable, Midday and Islington earlier on this century.
It has not, admittedly, always been the most competitive of races, with plenty of winners going in at very short odds. This year’s renewal, though, has real depth.
Kalpana, the King George winner at Ascot last month, heads the field and Minnie Hauk, last year’s winner, should provide stern opposition alongside the three-year-old Johanna Walsh, an impressive four-length winner of the Irish Oaks at the Curragh last time out.
Legacy Link, the Musidora winner here back in May, cannot be ruled out either, not least following the success of Item, another trial winner at the May meeting, in yesterday’s International Stakes provided a reminder of the importance of track form at this track.
Added attractions this afternoon include the Goffs Half Million sales race at 2.25 and the Group Two Lowther Stakes for juvenile fillies, which will kick off the proceedings at 1.50.
The going on the Knavesmire is now good-to-soft after a further 2.8mm of rain overnight, and you can, as ever, follow all the news, results, betting moves and more here on the blog as the afternoon’s action unfolds.
