Saturday hosts the flagship event of York’s Ebor meeting, namely the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap. The coveted contest is Europe’s richest handicap with £300,000 in prize money to the winner, and a combined £500,000 distributed down to eighth place. 

The inaugural running came in 1843 won by Pagan, and the event continues to increase in both stature and quality, with the winner given an automatic entry to the Melbourne Cup. 

A full field of 22 take to post in what looks set to be a fascinating spectacle. 

2026 Sky Bet Ebor Handicap runners

Last year’s Melrose winner Tarriance is winless since his nose course and distance success, but he bounced right back to form at Goodwood last time out when fourth in the Summer Handicap off top-weight. He travelled strongly throughout, but just ran out of gas late on. He’s entitled to come on from that first race in 78 days, and he’s likely to run very well for a yard in excellent form. 

Emit has dropped 7lbs since his seasonal debut and caught the eye when fourth in the Duke of Edinburgh under Ryan Moore, finishing fourth to Opportunity. A return to soft ground bodes well, and his yard have been successful in several of the big handicaps this festival season. 

Klassleader has been sent off in five of his six races with form figures of 721217, and won the Jorkvik handicap here on his penultimate run in May. The Yorkshire-born William Haggas hasn’t won the Ebor in his illustrious career, and he will need Klassleader to step up from a below par effort at Newmarket, but he’s been trained with this race in mind this season and could be well handicapped. 

The HOS Syndicate has won this with Ethical Diamond and Absurde in the last three years for Willie Mullins, the latter ridden by William Buick who gets the leg up on bottom weight Love Me Tender. It’s tough to weigh up if this mark is lenient, and he has a layoff to contend with, but he’s from a talented family and looks to have been primed for this. 

Daiquiri Bay is two from two this season, latterly taking the Copper Horse Stakes at Royal Ascot and has been kept fresh for this contest. He has course and distance form having finished third in last years Melrose, but stall one mightn’t be ideal. 

Beylerbeyi looks to have been campaigned with this race in mind having run repeatedly into trouble at Newmarket last time out, improving from an until then lacklustre season. Having won the Cesarewitch last season, he’s evidently suited to a race of this nature and given his last race here was a winning one, he cannot be discounted for a yard well versed in the art of landing these big handicaps. 

Ebor Handicap Racecard

Ebor Handicap Trends

• The last 10 winners were all rated 101 or higher
• The last 10 winners finished in the top 6 last time out
• 9 of the last 10 winners were not Group winners
• 8 of the last 10 winners were drawn in stall 12 or higher
• 6 of the last 10 winners were trained in Ireland 

2026 Ebor Tips 

Arriving on the back of a career best RPR on turf despite being short of room late on, Beylerbeyi can return to the winners enclosure given his season looks to have been tailored around landing a pot of this nature. 

He ticks four of the aforementioned six trends, and Clifford Lee returns for the first time since finishing second on him in last year’s Mallard Handicap.

FAQs

When and where is the Ebor?

The Ebor will take place at York racecourse on Saturday 22 August 2026 at 3.35pm.

How can I watch the Ebor Handicap on Saturday?

The Ebor Handicap is live on ITV Racing at 3.35pm on Saturday.

When were the Ebor Handicap tips published?

The tips for the Ebor were published at 10am on Friday 21 August.

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