Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup - Group 2 (2:40pm)
| Distance: 1 mile 6 furlongs | Prize Money: £140,000 |
| Race Type: Group 2 | Age: 4+ |
| Rating: | Stalls: |
| Channel 4 |
The closing feature race of Dante Festival is the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup, a Pattern race at the pinnacle of racing’s pyramid. The race is over the comparatively long distance for a flat race of a mile and three quarters, and like long distance human athletes, the stamina required to win tends to develop with age so this race is for horses aged four and older. Also like their human equivalents the horses that compete at this level over the longer distances tend to be around for several seasons and so become well known to the regular racegoing crowds. Runners in this race are likely to reappear in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and other “Cup” races over the summer, so why not adopt one to follow throughout the season. The only difference in weight comes from the allowances for sex. Identifying a successful stayer could make for a profitable summer, so concentrate when making your selection and then watch all the field closely.
The Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup is the first of the stayer’s “Grand Slam” Cup events and often sees the emergence of new talent in the stamina division; so it pits the established stars against the young pretenders. It is followed by the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, the Goodwood Cup and the Doncaster Cup, not to forget the Weatherby’s Insurance Lonsdale Cup back here on the Knavesmire in August.
No horse has even won all of the first four of those races in the same season, though several have come close – especially Ardross who was foiled two years running. Henry Cecil saddled him to take the York, Ascot and Goodwood prizes in 1981, but he missed out at Doncaster. The following spring he returned to win at York and at the Royal fixture, but the Goodwood Cup eluded him before he scored on Doncaster’s Town Moor.
York Raceourse intended to launch the Yorkshire Cup in 1926, but the meeting was cancelled that year because of the general strike and so Templestow became the first winner the following season. Then it was run over two miles and he carried the colours of Colonel Hugh Stobbart, a former Steward at York who lived at nearby Middlethorpe Hall, now a popular resting place for owners and racegoers alike, and was ridden by Tommy Weston.
There was another truly local success almost 50 years later when Line Slinger carried the pink colours of York solicitor Noel Hetherton to victory at 33-1 in 1983. Twenty years later the prize fell to Zindabad, trained at Middleham by Mark Johnston and ridden by recently retired local jockey Kevin Darley. The combination went on to win the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, but Johnston’s great stayer Double Trigger never managed to collect on Knavesmire. In truth he only ever ran once in the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup when fourth behind Moonax in 1995 after which he won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, the Goodwood Cup and at Doncaster that season. The chestnut added another two Goodwood Cups and Doncaster Cups in a career which saw him win 14 of his 29 races.
The Emirates Yorkshire Cup distance was reduced by two furlongs in 1965 and in recent decades there has been a distinct link between the race and the Ladbrokes St Leger, run over the same trip at Doncaster every autumn. Bruni won the final Classic in 1975 and took the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup the following spring before finishing second at Goodwood, while Moon Madness had taken the Doncaster Classic a couple of years before his 1988 York triumph. Moonax also did the double, scoring in Sheikh Mohammed’s colours for trainer Barry Hills at 40-1 in the 1994 Ladbrokes St Leger, and he carried the blue of Godolphin when successful on the Knavesmire the following year. Indeed, Godolphin has a great record with five winners in the past dozen years, including Mamool, Classic Cliché, Marienbard and Kayf Tara. The latter won ten of his 13 races, never finished out of the first three and his victories included two Ascot Gold Cups, a Goodwood Cup and the Irish St Leger twice.
Millenary was a brilliant – if quirky – performer who won the Ladbrokes St Leger in Millennium year and was still racing as an eight-year-old when he landed the second of his two Doncaster Cups. He won the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup in 2004 and also took the Wetherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup here the following year before retiring to stud with earnings of almost £1m.
Daryll Holland gave Franklins Gardens a superb ride to beat Percussionist by a neck in 2005 and the runner-up went one better twelve months later when scoring for County Durham trainer Howard Johnson. The gelding had three lengths to spare over Sergeant Cecil, but roles were reversed in 2007 when he finished only fourth to the same opponent.
Of course, Sergeant Cecil became something of a standing dish on the Knavesmire where his record reads four wins and a second from just seven starts. He won the totesport Ebor in 2005 and took the Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup and the Doncaster Cup, run here while Doncaster was being redeveloped, in 2006. In 2007 he became the champion in the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup. There was under a length between him and second place, Geordieland, who went on to win the Cup in 2008.
The champion never fails to face stiff competition if he comes back the following season. This is the essence of the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup; a top class race run in springtime when the youngsters are emerging to challenge the superiority of the old order. It promises the first verse of a song that will played throughout the summer.
| No | Horse | Age | St | Lb | Draw | ||||||
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1 | Furmigadelagiusta | 8 | 13 | (5) | ||||||
| Jockey: Paul Hanagan | |||||||||||
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2 | Nanton (USA) | 8 | 13 | (2) | ||||||
| Jockey: Daniel Tudhope | |||||||||||
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3 | Purple Moon (IRE) | 8 | 13 | (8) | ||||||
| Jockey: Kieren Fallon | |||||||||||
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4 | Kite Wood (IRE) | 8 | 12 | (1) | ||||||
| Jockey: Frankie Dettori | |||||||||||
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5 | Manifest | 8 | 12 | (7) | ||||||
| Jockey: Tom Queally | |||||||||||
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6 | Oasis Knight (IRE) | 8 | 12 | (4) | ||||||
| Jockey: Jimmy Fortune | |||||||||||
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7 | Wajir (FR) | 8 | 12 | (6) | ||||||
| Jockey: Ted Durcan | |||||||||||
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8 | Clowance | 8 | 10 | (3) | ||||||
| Jockey: William Buick | |||||||||||
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