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Godolphin and Saeed Suhail lead Dubai's charge at York's Ebor Festival
While thousands of fans thronged the historic Knavesmire to witness some of thoroughbred racing’s finest moments, it was Dubai-owned horses who stamped their authority on the meeting
- PUBLISHED: Sun 24 Aug 2025, 7:14 PM
York’s Ebor Festival, one of the crown jewels of the British flat racing season, once again lived up to its lofty billing as the ‘Royal Ascot of the North’, with four days of high-class action and glamour.
While thousands of fans thronged the historic Knavesmire to witness some of thoroughbred racing’s finest moments, it was Dubai-owned horses who stamped their authority on the meeting.
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Leading the charge were runners representing Team Godolphin, whose strong seasonal form continued in emphatic style with three victories, including two major feature races.
Their star turn came on the opening day when Ombudsman, trained by John and Thady Gosden and ridden by William Buick, claimed the Juddmonte International Stakes (Group 1). Consistently ranked among the world’s top-rated races, past winners of the opening day’s highlight include legends such as Frankel, Sea The Stars, and Baaeed.
Ombudsman’s success ensured Godolphin’s trademark blue banners once again flew high on the racecourse, housed on the southwest edge of York, just down the road from the city centre.
Ombudsman, whom his rider William Buick described as a ‘beautiful horse to ride, with stacks of quality,’ also became only the third horse, after Nayef (2003) and Mostahdaf (2023), to win both the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and the Juddmonte International in the same year.
Godolphin’s winning streak continued when Trawlerman powered home in the Lonsdale Cup (Group 2), adding yet another significant prize to his already glittering résumé, which includes three major Group races in his career — the Group 1 Gold Cup, the Group 2 British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot, and the Group 3 Henry II Stakes at Sandown.
On the same card on Friday, stablemate Fifth Column landed the Mile Handicap, bringing Godolphin’s tally of wins for the week to three. These victories underline the stable’s formidable global campaign this season, with their 2025 record now standing at 76 Stakes wins, including 15 at Group 1 level.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence, also had something to celebrate when Charlotte’s Web held on bravely to win the Sir Henry Cecil Galtres Stakes, one of the highlights of Ladies’ Day on Thursday.
But the crowning moment for Dubai connections at this year’s Ebor Festival came on the final day when Never So Brave, owned by prominent Dubai businessman Saeed Suhail, stormed to victory in the City of York Stakes (Group 1).
Trained by Andrew Balding at his Hampshire yard and ridden by 2020 British Champion jockey Oisin Murphy, the colt’s win capped a glittering week for Dubai-owned runners and provided Suhail, already a two-time Epsom Derby-winning owner with Kris Kin (2003) and Desert Crown (2022), with yet another prestigious trophy to add to his collection, which includes the 2018 Prince of Wales’s Stakes and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes with his stable star Poet’s Word.
Meanwhile, Dubai businessman Mahlih Al Basti continued his proud sponsorship of the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack Stakes (Group 2), further underlining the depth of UAE racing patrons’ involvement and support of British racing. The race was won by Lifeplan, with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s Rock On Thunder finishing second in a thrilling finish.
The Ebor Festival retained its reputation as one of the richest and most stylish summer events and continues to stand as a major fixture of the British racing calendar, producing winners who often go on to compete for glory in forthcoming international contests such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Melbourne Cup in Australia.