🐎 2027 City of York Stakes: Preview, Tips & Trends

You know how punters get lost in too much data or bet blindly? I break down the stats and trends so you can feel confident you’re betting with more than just gut instinct.

2027 City of York Stakes Preview

The City of York Stakes has seen several upgrades in recent years: it went from Listed to Group 3 in 2016, then to Group 2 in 2019, and for the 2025 renewal, it was upgraded again to Group 1. It is open to runners aged three or older and is run over seven furlongs. The race takes place on the last day of the York Ebor Festival, which takes place in August.

Forget the last run

The City of York is a race to approach with an open mind, as its winners almost never arrive on the back of a victory. Just two of the last twenty came in having won last time out, the 2026 winner among those beaten last time before scoring here. The rest emerged from defeats in the big summer Group races, the Goodwood features chief among them, and Glorious Goodwood is the key source, supplying ten of the last twenty winners' final prep runs. A well-regarded miler who underperformed at that meeting is far from dismissed here ahead of the next renewal.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Our dedicated York tips page will not only bring you predictions from the OLBG racing tipsters for the upcoming card that includes the City of York Stakes, but will also have predictions for each meeting at York throughout the season, so be sure to head over there. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Other Principal Races at York Racecourse section for links to these.

Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2026 (UKGC Regulated)

How competitive is the City of York Stakes market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2013, when the race had an over-round of 108%. The race in 2026 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 127%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the City of York Stakes, the over-round has been 118%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £118 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 City of York Stakes Trends. See which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal. We also have a section that looks at the City of York Stakes Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run City of York Stakes races over the last 20 renewals:

Shine So Bright (1:21.00) in 2019
Yaa Wayl (1:21.93) in 2010
Nemoralia (1:22.16) in 2016

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 20 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the City of York Stakes next time out, then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 20 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -4.07. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2027 City of York Stakes.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2013 renewal when Sirius Prospect from Dean Ivory under the guidance of Robert Winston, won in a time of 1:26.84, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Shine So Bright, trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by James Doyle set the quickest time of 1:21.00 in the 2019 renewal.

City of York Stakes Past Winners

Here are the City of York Stakes' past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the race year, the winning horse, and the horse's age & weight. Also detailed are the stall from which the horse came and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the City of York Stakes are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

Year	Horse (Drawn)	Info
2026 1:24.91	Notable Speech (GB) 5yo 9-8 (1 of 14) 9/4F	William Buick Charlie Appleby (GB)
2025 1:22.93	Never So Brave (IRE) 4yo 9-8 (7 of 10) 7/2	Oisin Murphy Andrew Balding (GB)
2024 1:24.09	Breege (GB) 4yo 9-5 (3 of 6) 33/1	Colin Keane John & Sean Quinn (GB)
2023 1:22.57	Kinross (GB) 6yo 9-8 (6 of 11) 9/4F	Frankie Dettori Ralph Beckett (GB)
2022 1:22.97	Kinross (GB) 5yo 9-8 (5 of 9) 5/1	Frankie Dettori Ralph Beckett (GB)
2021 1:22.60	Space Blues (IRE) 5yo 9-6 (1 of 9) 11/8F	William Buick Charlie Appleby (GB)
2020 1:25.47	Safe Voyage (IRE) 7yo 9-6 (4 of 8) 4/1	Jason Hart John Quinn (GB)
2019 1:21.00	Shine So Bright (GB) 3yo 9-1 (2 of 9) 6/1	James Doyle Andrew Balding (GB)
2018 1:23.10	Expert Eye (GB) 3yo 9-1 (2 of 9) 1/1F	Frankie Dettori Sir Michael Stoute (GB)
2017 1:24.08	Talaayeb (GB) 3yo 8-6 (8 of 18) 9/1	Chris Hayes Owen Burrows (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the City of York Stakes have been based:

GB: 19 winners with an additional 34 placings from 193 runners
IRE: 2 winners with an additional 2 placings from 15 runners
FR: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 1 runner
JPN: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
SAF: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
GER: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

2026 City of York Stakes Replay

City of York Stakes Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the City of York Stakes over the last 20 renewals is Andrew Balding, who has won the race four times, with those four winners coming from Dream Eater (2009), Absolutely So (2014), Shine So Bright (2019) and Never So Brave (2025). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the City of York Stakes are Charlie Appleby (2 wins), Ralph Beckett (2 wins) and Sir Michael Stoute (2 wins). Two trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the City of York Stakes. Richard Fahey has sent a total of 12 runners to the race without recording any wins, whilst David O'Meara has sent out 11 without a winner.

Here are some of the top City of York Stakes trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

Trainer	R-W-P	Win	EW
Andrew Balding	14-4-7	+12.50	+10.10
Charlie Appleby	8-2-3	-2.37	-2.47
Ralph Beckett	4-2-2	+5.25	+2.35
Sir Michael Stoute	4-2-2	+2.00	+0.40
T Hogan	4-1-2	+2.00	+3.00
John Quinn	4-1-2	+1.00	+0.75
David Brown	3-1-3	+3.00	+3.85
Dean Ivory	2-1-1	+1.50	+0.56
John & Sean Quinn	1-1-1	+33.00	+20.63
Edward Lynam	1-1-1	+14.00	+8.40

City of York Stakes Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the City of York Stakes over the last 20 renewals is William Buick, who has won the race four times, with those four winners coming from Dream Eater (2009), Gordon Lord Byron (2012), Space Blues (2021) and Notable Speech (2026). The only other jockey to have recorded multiple wins in the City of York Stakes is Oisin Murphy (2 wins).

Here are some of the top City of York Stakes jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

Jockey	R-W-P	Win	EW
William Buick	8-4-4	+11.63	+5.38
Oisin Murphy	7-2-3	+4.50	+4.00
Jamie Spencer	10-1-4	-7.12	-4.72
Ryan Moore	8-1-1	-4.00	-5.20
James Doyle	7-1-3	+0.00	+2.20
Silvestre De Sousa	7-1-3	-1.00	-0.30
Colin Keane	3-1-1	+31.00	+18.63
Jason Hart	3-1-1	+2.00	+0.40
Declan McDonogh	1-1-1	+14.00	+8.40
Chris Hayes	1-1-1	+9.00	+4.50

2027 City of York Stakes Trends

Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 5, 3, 5, 5, (1, 7), 7, 2, (1, 6, 8), (1, 2), 1, PU, 1, 2, 2, 1, 6, 1, 4, 4, 1

The percentage shown is the proportion of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones, as you would expect them to do well.

21 / 21 (60%) - Within the first 6 of the market
21 / 21 (76%) - Achieved an RPR of 107+ (Season)
21 / 21 (78%) - No bigger than 10/1 (Last Win)
21 / 21 (85%) - In a field of 6 - 21 (LTO)
21 / 21 (86%) - No bigger than 66/1 (Career)
21 / 21 (87%) - Achieved a TS of 74+ (Season)
21 / 21 (87%) - No bigger than 20/1 (Career Win)
21 / 21 (88%) - Won by at least a neck (Last Win)
21 / 21 (88%) - Beaten no more -11l (LTO)
21 / 21 (88%) - No bigger than 25/1 (LTO)
21 / 21 (89%) - Break of 8 - 335 days (Last Place)
21 / 21 (89%) - Carried 122 - 135lbs (LTO)
21 / 21 (89%) - Achieved a TS of 54+ (LTO)
20 / 21 (87%) - No bigger than 20/1 (Debut)
18 / 21 (68%) - Achieved a TS of 91+ (Last 5)

Remember to use the trends listed above, along with the York racing predictions, to see if you can find the winner of the City of York Stakes. Did you know that we have an OLBG Betting School section on OLBG? It is a place to help you improve your betting experience with articles covering numerous topics.

Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, it is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the City of York Stakes by adding a tip on the race here.

101 Ways to find Winners in Horse Racing

2027 City of York Stakes Runners & Shortlist

The runners and the final trends shortlist for the 2027 renewal of the City of York Stakes will be added once the final declarations are confirmed, which are usually 48 hours before the race.

City of York Stakes Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +24.75, is when runners had 0 career starts at the track.

❌ The worst-performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 5 career wins; when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-33.

Here are the most recent winning draws, along with the further placings in brackets:

2026: Winner in 1 (5,3) [14 Runners]
2025: Winner in 7 (8,4) [10 Runners]
2024: Winner in 3 (2) [6 Runners]
2023: Winner in 6 (2,1) [11 Runners]
2022: Winner in 5 (2,4) [9 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the City of York Stakes is Goodwood; there have been a total of 10 winners of this race who ran at Goodwood last time out. The next best course, which has produced the second most winners, is Ascot; there have been a total of 3 winners of this race who ran at Ascot last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 17 winners from a total of 188 runners, while female runners have produced 4 winners from a total of 24 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the City of York Stakes:

Acclamation (2 Wins)
Dubawi (2 Wins)
Kingman (2 Wins)

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the City of York Stakes; that stallion is Dark Angel, who has failed to produce a winner from 9 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Breege in 2024, winning for John & Sean Quinn at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of Colin Keane. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 8 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2027 City of York Stakes, head over to see which runners the best racing tipsters are tipping today.

Route to the City of York Stakes

Many trainers target races as preparation for the City of York Stakes. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

Info	Last Race
2026 - Notable Speech Ascot - 6th of 9 (9/4)	Queen Anne Stakes
2025 - Never So Brave Ascot - 1st of 6 (11/8)	Summer Mile Stakes
2024 - Breege Goodwood - 7th of 9 (12/1)	Oak Tree Stakes
2023 - Kinross Goodwood - 1st of 6 (10/11)	Lennox Stakes
2022 - Kinross Goodwood - 2nd of 11 (4/1)	Lennox Stakes
2021 - Space Blues Goodwood - 4th of 8 (11/4)	Lennox Stakes
2020 - Safe Voyage Goodwood - 4th of 11 (9/2)	Lennox Stakes
2019 - Shine So Bright Newmarket (Rowley) - 6th of 19 (16/1)	2000 Guineas
2018 - Expert Eye Goodwood - 2nd of 8 (4/1)	Sussex Stakes
2017 - Talaayeb Newbury - 7th of 8 (4/7)	Lord Weinstock Memorial EBF Stallions Stakes

Other Principal races during the York Ebor Festival

Remember to head over to the York predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters support in the City of York Stakes. Below are the other principal races that we cover during the Ebor Festival, with links to each race blog and information for last year's winners.

Wednesday at the Ebor Festival

The highlight of the opening day of the Ebor Festival is the Juddmonte International, a Group 1 race with a purse of £1.25 million, which is part of the British Champion Series.

Race	Last Winner	Info
13:50 York Ebor HKJC World Pool Handicap	Air Force One (IRE) 5yo - 13/2	Geoff Oldroyd P J McDonald
14:25 York Acomb Stakes	Haffner (USA) 2yo - 11/8	A P O'Brien Ryan Moore
15:00 York Great Voltigeur Stakes	Maltese Cross (FR) 3yo - 9/4	William Haggas Tom Marquand
15:35 York Juddmonte International Stakes	Item (GB) 3yo - 10/1	Andrew Balding Colin Keane
16:10 York Ebor Stayers Heritage Handicap	Small Fry (IRE) 5yo - 2/1	Joseph Patrick O'Brien Dylan Browne McMonagle

Thursday at the Ebor Festival

The fillies and mares take centre stage on Thursday at the festival in the Yorkshire Oaks, another Group 1 which is part of the British Champion Series.

Race	Last Winner	Info
13:50 York Lowther Stakes	Libertango (IRE) 2yo - 3/1	George Boughey Billy Loughnane
14:25 York Harrys Half Million By Goffs	Sun Goddess (IRE) 2yo - 1/1	A P O'Brien Ryan Moore
15:00 York Clipper Handicap	The Lost King (GB) 4yo - 7/1	Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy
15:35 York Yorkshire Oaks	Kalpana (GB) 5yo - 10/11	Andrew Balding Colin Keane
16:10 York Galtres Stakes	Prizeland (GB) 3yo - 11/1	Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy
17:20 York Ebor Fillies Heritage Handicap	Machadadorp (GB) 3yo - 9/1	Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy

Friday at the Ebor Festival

The British Champion Series race for Friday at the Ebor Festival is the 500k Nunthorpe over the sprint distance of five furlongs. The Lonsdale Cup is also part of the British Champion Series on Friday.

Race	Last Winner	Info
13:50 York Ebor Mile Heritage Handicap	Blue Courvoisier (GB) 3yo - 13/2	Clive Cox Rossa Ryan
14:25 York Lonsdale Cup	Al Nayyir (GB) 8yo - 9/1	Tom Clover William Buick
15:00 York Gimcrack Stakes	Arapaho Gold (IRE) 2yo - 2/1	Michael Dods Connor Beasley
15:35 York Nunthorpe Stakes	Bacio (USA) 3yo - 3/1	Wesley A Ward Juan J Hernandez
16:10 York Ebor Middle Distance Heritage Handicap	Plage De Havre (GB) 5yo - 11/2	Andrew Balding P J McDonald

Saturday at the Ebor Festival

The highlight on the final day of the Ebor Festival is the Ebor Handicap itself, a stamina-testing class two handicap which carries a purse of 500k.

Race	Last Winner	Info
13:50 York Strensall Stakes	Archivist (GB) 4yo - 9/1	Hamad Al Jehani Callum Rodriguez
14:25 York Melrose Heritage Handicap	Infraad (IRE) 3yo - 100/30	William Haggas Tom Marquand
15:00 York City of York Stakes	Notable Speech (GB) 5yo - 9/4	Charlie Appleby William Buick
15:35 York Ebor Handicap	Daiquiri Bay (GB) 4yo - 10/1	Alan King Rossa Ryan
16:45 York Roses Stakes	Sale Shark (IRE) 2yo - 17/2	Hugo Palmer Oisin Murphy
17:20 York Ebor Finale Heritage Handicap	Raammee (GB) 4yo - 13/8	Roger Varian Ray Dawson

Article Contributor Information

We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this City of York Stakes Preview are Andy and James. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for Flat racing.

James Banting

Content Editor

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Association provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.

Andy Powell