Sky Bet Ebor Festival Group One Entries

The 2026 Sky Bet Ebor Festival (Wednesday 19 - Saturday 22 August) is starting to take shape after the entries were published for the Group One contest on each of the four days.

Chief executive William Derby was thrilled with the quality of the entries for the richest ever race on the Knavesmire, the £1.5 million Juddmonte International on the opening day. Defending champion Ombudsman and 2024 runner-up Calandagan featuring among 30 horses in contention.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Ombudsman was last seen winning the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot for the second consecutive year, while Calandagan was previously crowned Longines World's Best Racehorse when registering four top-level victories in 2025, including a defeat of Ombudsman in the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Meanwhile, Prix du Jockey Club hero Constitution River, features among a strong three-year-old contingent, along with his fellow Classic-winning stablemates Benvenuto Cellini and Gstaad.

“To have the defending champion is always good,” Derby said of Ombudsman's intended return to the Knavesmire. “Some organisations have him as currently the highest-rated horse in the world, so that is very exciting after what he did at Ascot.

There are other amazing horses in there and it will be interesting to see if Constitution River heads our way after his intended run at Sandown, for the richest race we've ever staged.

The possibility of Calandagan again, after he forced City Of Troy into breaking the track record in 2024, means the Juddmonte International is shaping up to be a cracker.”

Elsewhere at the Festival, American trainer Wesley Ward will be hoping to break his duck in the £600,000 Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes with his impressive Royal Ascot winner Bacio, having previously saddled Acapulco and Lady Aurelia to fill the runner-up spot in the five-furlong contest.

On the Friday, another defending champion, Asfoora, is a notable contender for Australian trainer Henry Dwyer among 36 entries, along with Japanese raider Satono Reve. The latter speedster recently suffered a narrow defeat in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot for the second year in a row. The son of Lord Kanaloa is also one of 47 entries for the Sky Bet City Of York Stakes, a seven-furlong contest which was run as a Group 1 for the first time in 2025. It joins the Sky Bet Ebor itself forming a strong final day card.

“Bacio is there for Wesley Ward, who came so close with Lady Aurelia,” Derby continued. “Asfoora is returning for her defence and Satono Reve is in both the Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe and Sky Bet City Of York after running an amazing race at Ascot, so I'm really excited about that. Ponntos is in there from the Czech Republic, Francis-Henri Graffard has some entries, too.

We've had a bumper entry for the Sky Bet City Of York in just it's second year [as a Group 1], so I'm really excited about that. It has quickly established itself in the minds of all connections. We had a great line-up last year, but it can only improve as people get used to it as a Group 1 option.

You've got the Queen Anne winner in Ten Bob Tony, Qirat, who won the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Criterion here on Saturday and won the Sussex last year, and an Irish Guineas winner in Gstaad, so it brings horses stepping up in trip or down and three-year-olds meeting older horses – it's fascinating.

It's going to be World Pool this year on Saturday for the first time, also.”

Finally, the Yorkshire Oaks could bring together the last two winners of the Oaks at Epsom in Minnie Hauk and Thundering On, plus the multiple Group 1 scorers Diamond Necklace , Kalpana in the famous Juddmonte silks that Enable carried to success in this contest and Precise.

Minnie Hauk would be attempting to emulate Only Royale (1993 and 1994), Islington (2002 and 2003) and Enable (2017 and 2019) as a dual winner of the Yorkshire Oaks, while she could face a rematch with last year's runner-up, Estrange, who is sure to have plenty of support from local racegoers if returning to York after her success in Saturday's G1 Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.

“Given Estrange is trained by David O'Meara in Malton, it would be great to see her have another go at the Yorkshire Oaks,” said Derby.

“She was second to Minnie Hauk last year and we showed her win the Pretty Polly Stakes in Ireland on the big screen on Saturday, which went down very well. She won on quickish ground on Saturday, she's such a beautiful filly, we'd love to see her go one better.

It's like the first day of December almost for us with all the storylines coming together.”

For full details of the entries for the four Group One contests click here.

*Adapted from an original article by Thoroughbred Daily News