10 things you might not know about the racecourse

1. The International Rating 2006-8 rank the Group 1 Juddmonte International as the highest rated race in the UK and third in the world behind the Breeders Cup Classic and the Arc. The 2009 renewal saw the world's highest rated racehorse, Sea The Stars, victorious over dual Group 1 winner Mastercraftsman as part of his record breaking summer.

2. York grows its own flowers for over 500 window-boxes and planters that decorate the course. Blooms are tended and most flowers are grown from seed or seedlings in our own nursery in nearby Middlethorpe by Ian Halstead. Ian is York’s head gardener and longest serving employee. He joined the team in 1966, the year Lomond took the Ebor and England last won the World Cup.

3. The course’s Ebor Stand played Denton International Airport in a recording of ITV detective drama A Touch of Frost, while its Gimcrack Rooms hosted Living TV’s popular ghost hunt show Britain's Most Haunted. The BBC has also hosted features from the course, with Blue Peter’s Zoe Salmon learning to ride and Bill Oddie filming a natural history piece.

4. York has 180 stables, laid out in four quadrangles. The stables have been a temporary home to star racehorses from Brigadier Gerard to Sea The Stars and one of the quads has contained the home green of Dringhouses Bowling Club since 1929.

5. You will not need to back too many winners to afford a bottle of champagne at York this season. Bottles of brand name champagne cost under £30 each at the 2010 Ebor Festival.

6. Another favourable comparison with many other sporting days-out is an all-inclusive luxury day in the Ebor Restaurant starts at £175 plus VAT, including admission, racecard, morning coffee, gourmet lunch, full afternoon tea and drinks.

7. York has boasted many distinguished visitors, including Pope John Paul II, who said open-air mass for more than 200,000 pilgrims during his visit to Britain on May 31, 1982.

8. The course has seen many memorable finishes, including that of legendary highwayman Dick Turpin, who was hanged on the Knavesmire on April 19, 1739.

9. York’s highest attendance for a race meeting was recorded in 1851, when a crowd estimated at 150,000 saw The Flying Dutchman, winner of the Derby and St Leger in 1849, beat Voltigeur, who took both races the following year, in the so-called Great Match. The modern era record is the 42,514 who witnessed the 48th John Smiths Cup in July 2007. In 2009 over 320,000 racegoers attended York's 17 day season - a modern day record.

10. The Princess Royal has ridden a winner here. She won the Queen Mother’s Cup on Insular on June 11, 1988. Of course Her Majesty the Queen was present for all days of Royal Ascot at York in 2005.

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