The Ebor Handicap delivered a memorable finale to four days of action on the Knavesmire as Alan King’s Daiquiri Bay, at 10-1, finished fast against the stands’ rail to beat Hopewell Rock by a head in Europe’s richest handicap, with Opportunity just a neck adrift in third. Rossa Ryan, the winning jockey, passed the long-time leader, Burdett Road, with just over a furlong to run and steered towards the rail as Hopewell Rock and Opportunity drove for the line towards the middle of the track. Hopewell Rock was his final challenger but came up just a head short after Callum Rodriguez, his rider, lost his whip inside the final furlong.
Daiquiri Bay is now unbeaten in three starts this season, including a valuable handicap at Royal Ascot in June, having taken his form to a different level following a gelding operation over the winter. His preparation has gone great, the rain came and I almost think he’s a better horse on slow ground. We had the favourite back in 2003 [Salsalino] but he only finished third.
When you win these big races, it is always emotional and we don’t win as many as we used to. I’ve always tried to win an Ebor but you need one on the way up and this one was.” Love Me Tender, a lightly-raced four-year-old from the Willie Mullins stable, set off as the 7-2 favourite to give the trainer a third Ebor win in four years, but showed his inexperience by pulling hard in the early stages and eventually faded to finish 10th. Earlier on the card, Notable Speech, the 2,000 Guineas winner in 2024, recorded the sixth Group One success of his career with an easy victory in the City Of York Stakes.
Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile winner at Del Mar in California will now be aimed at a repeat win when this year’s meeting is staged at Keeneland in Kentucky in late October. In Ireland, Aidan O’Brien’s Giant Sequoia confirmed his status as the early favourite for next year’s Derby with a win in the Futurity Stakes at the Curragh, but the son of Frankel was forced to work for victory before seeing off his stable companion, Florida Bay, by half a length. I’d imagine he might come back for the National Stakes here [in September].”
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