Queen Camilla provides Royal seal of approval to ‘Andy Burnham’s Ascot’
Racing chiefs say surges in ticket sales and prize money has put northern York Ebor festival right up there with southern rivals Ascot, Epsom and Cheltenham
The Queen arrives at the Ebor Festival in York(Image: Chris Jackson/PA Wire)
The Queen gave her Royal seal of approval to ‘Andy Burnham’s Ascot’ as they were ‘off’ at York’s Ebor Festival – to record cash and crowds.
Racing chiefs said a surge in ticket sales and prize money has put the northern meeting right up there with southern rivals Ascot, Epsom and Cheltenham.
The opening day featured the richest horse race ever run in the north.
The Juddmonte International Stakes saw nine of the sport of king’s finest thoroughbreds battling it out for £1.5m in prize money.
That is £500,000 more than was on offer at this year’s Grand National and any race at Cheltenham – and the same prize pot as the Epsom Derby.
It is only beaten by the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot which promised £2m this year with an extra £500,000 to come next year.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham could ‘transfer power’ up north (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The Juddmonte attracted the world’s top jockeys with Ryan Moore battling it out against an international field including William Buick, Kieran Shoemark, Rossa Ryan and Mickael Barzalona.
The race lured in record crowds with ticket sales across the week up 12%.
More than 150 countries took the video feed for the first time so fans across the globe could tune in.
Ticket sales to see the action live at York Racecourse were up 12% across the week.
The Queen arrived to watch the action from the Royal Box.
And the big race itself turned out to be a belter – with the two hot favourites beaten by a 10-1 outsider.
Item – trained by Brit Andrew Balding – stormed past the field to pocket the £850,000 first prize.
The world’s top-ranked racehorse Ombudsman – which started 5-6 odds-on favourite – lumbered home only fourth.
Queen Camilla meets Item jockey Colin Keane who won the Juddmonte International Stakes – the richest horse race ever run in the North(Image: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
French Derby winner Constitution River, which started the race 7-4 second favourite, was third.
Paddy Power spokesman Paul Binfield said: “It was a race fitting of the occasion – a right humdinger.
“Everyone was focussed on the big two and forgot about Item who would have been seriously fancied in just about any other race.
“It reminded me of the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup when Imperial Commander outpointed two of racing’s giants Kauto Star and Denman.
“If York has broken records for ticket sales and records for prize money the record for crowd noise must have gone too – particularly from anyone who backed Item at 10-1.
“I’m sure our new Prime Minister would have approved of the north staging a race meeting to rival the giants of the south.
“It certainly fits in with his levelling up plans. In fact there has been talk of it as ‘Andy’s Ascot’.
Colin Keane rides Item to victory in the Juddmonte International Stakes(Image: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
“Perhaps he will turn up next year – maybe on a bus.”
York chief executive William Derby said he was proud the ‘global spotlight of the racing world’ would be shining on the course over the next four days.
“We had 73,000 here last year and we are 12% ahead in general admission bookings for the meeting so we’re looking forward to a good week,” he said.
“We’ve got really strong entries.
“The big races are all hot contests.
“We’ve had a really international field, top-quality horses, record investment in prize money.
“We’ve got the most distribution broadcast coverage we’ve ever had for the meeting. The global spotlight of the racing world is on York this week which is fantastic.
“The prize-money increase is something we’re hugely proud of.
“There’s a real buzz about the place.
“From Royal Ascot through all the major summer festivals, this is all something British racing can be really proud of.”
The Queen arrived wearing a blue straw feathered Philip Treacy hat, an Anna Valentine blue dress and Jockey Club brooch.
She met retiring jockey Joe Fanning, who made a full recovery from prostate cancer last year, on the day she revealed how difficult it had been keeping the King’s cancer diagnosis a secret.
As the Queen arrived at the venue she met ‘unsung heroes’ of the racecourse, including a member of the St John Ambulance who has volunteered for 50 years.
She also met representatives from local organisations Bereaved Children Support York, Friends of Rowntree Park and racehorse rehoming charity New Beginnings.
Camilla watched from a box as the RAF Falcons display team performed a parachute display before taking a salute.
The rain had been replaced with blue skies as she met Gold Cup-winning jockey Fanning on the pre-parade ring.
The 55-year-old had been honoured with a special presentation after announcing his desire to retire last month after almost 40 years.
His career had been put on hold when he was discovered to have prostate cancer, undergoing surgery earlier this year and subsequently making a full recovery.
He said he and the Queen had discussed the fact that some of her own horses would be racing at the venue later in the week, and described her as a ‘nice woman’.
It came on the day a short film was released by Buckingham Palace and Maggie’s cancer charity, where the Queen spoke for the first time about the difficult emotional experience of keeping the King’s cancer a secret before it was announced to the rest of the world.
