# Nunthorpe Stakes 2026 Result: Bacio Blitzes the Field for Wesley Ward

_Fri 21 Aug, York. Bacio (3/1F) led throughout to beat Starlust by 1 1/4L in the Nunthorpe Stakes, with Rumstar a nose back in third. Full result._

*Source: [https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/nunthorpe-stakes-2026-result/](https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/nunthorpe-stakes-2026-result/) · last updated 2026-08-21*

**Friday 21 August 2026, York Racecourse. Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes, Group 1, 5f, 3yo+. Off 15:36 BST. Going: Good to Soft. Eighteen ran. Winning time 59.42s.**

Bacio led from the stalls and was never seriously challenged, giving American trainer Wesley Ward his first Nunthorpe Stakes win. Sent off 3/1 favourite under Juan Hernandez, the three-year-old colt shrugged off pre-race doubts about whether his speed would carry on softer ground than he is used to, kicked clear inside the final two furlongs and held off the late runs of Starlust and Rumstar to win by a length and a quarter.

Starlust, a 25/1 outsider trained by R M Beckett under Rossa Ryan, ran on well to chase home the winner in second. Rumstar, 20/1 for J G Portman under Rob Hornby, was a nose behind her in third. Night Raider briefly tracked Bacio in the early stages before fading. Time For Sandals, fourth, was held up in traffic for much of the race and never got the clear run she needed.

The result also closed out a career. Asfoora, last year's Nunthorpe winner and an eight-year-old Australian mare trained by Henry Dwyer, could only finish eighth on ground softer than ideal for her, and her connections confirmed it as her final start. "That was some performance, all the credit goes to Bacio; I'm just happy to be here, enjoying the moment," Hernandez said afterwards.

**Result:**
- **1st Bacio (3/1F)**, Wesley Ward / Juan Hernandez
- **2nd Starlust (25/1)**, R M Beckett / Rossa Ryan, 1¼L
- **3rd Rumstar (20/1)**, J G Portman / Rob Hornby, nose (1¼L from the winner)
- 4th Time For Sandals (25/1), Harry Eustace / K Shoemark, ½L (1¾L)

For the wider Ebor Festival week, see the [Ebor Festival 2026 results hub](/racing-news/ebor-festival-2026-results/).

## Full result

| Pos | Horse | SP | Trainer | Jockey | Margin |
|----:|-------|---:|---------|--------|-------:|
| **1** | **Bacio** | **3/1F** | Wesley Ward | Juan Hernandez | -- |
| 2 | Starlust | 25/1 | R M Beckett | Rossa Ryan | 1¼L |
| 3 | Rumstar | 20/1 | J G Portman | Rob Hornby | nse (1¼L) |
| 4 | Time For Sandals | 25/1 | Harry Eustace | K Shoemark | ½L (1¾L) |
| 5 | Rayevka | 9/2 | F Gaffard | Mickael Barzalona | ¾L (2½L) |
| 6 | Night Raider | 7/1 | K R Burke | James Doyle | hd (2¾L) |

*Eighteen ran. Twelve finished from seventh home, including defending champion Asfoora (12/1, Henry Dwyer / Oisin Murphy) in eighth, three and a half lengths back and running her final race before retirement.*

## How the race was run

Bacio broke fastest of the eighteen and was never headed. Night Raider tracked him closest in the early stages but had faded by halfway, and from there it was a question of who among the closing pack could get to the leader rather than whether he would be caught at all. Starlust, held up early by Rossa Ryan, produced the best turn of foot of the closers to take second, with Rumstar getting up just a nose behind her for third. Time For Sandals, fourth, was held up in traffic for much of the race and was still niggled for room passing the two-furlong marker, a real excuse for a filly many thought would go closer with a clear run.

The soft-ish ground had been the pre-race talking point, with Bacio raised on firmer American dirt and turf. It made no visible difference. He crossed the line with daylight to the pack that had chased him the whole way, a performance strong enough that Racing Post's raceday coverage questioned the home sprint division by comparison: "Bacio was really good but how bad are our sprinters? They're a dire bunch."

No stewards' inquiry was reported.

For the wider Ebor Festival week, see the [Ebor Festival 2026 results hub](/racing-news/ebor-festival-2026-results/).

Wesley Ward has spent years sending fast American-bred juveniles and three-year-olds across the Atlantic to take on Europe's speed horses at Royal Ascot and beyond, and the Nunthorpe was the one big British sprint that had kept eluding him. Bacio settles that, and does it as a three-year-old colt beating a field that included proven older sprinters. Racing Post reported that connections are weighing further European targets before a possible tilt at the Breeders' Cup, with Ward also said to be considering Australian racing later in the horse's career. None of that is confirmed beyond the reporting, but the shape of the plan tracks how Ward has run his fastest horses before: keep going while the form holds.

For the beaten favourites, this was a result that raises more questions than it answers. Rayevka, sent off among the market's confidence picks, could only finish fifth, and Asfoora's eighth on her final start owed something to ground she never wanted. Neither result should be read as decisive: a below-par run from a proven Group 1 performer is worth watching rather than dismissing outright, and only their next starts, or lack of them in Asfoora's case, will settle whether Friday was the ground, the pace of the race, or simply a day the front-runner was better than the market thought.

Asfoora's retirement closes out one of the more travelled careers in recent sprinting: an Australian-trained mare who won this same race twelve months ago and took on Europe's best sprinters more than once along the way. Bowing out with a below-form run on unsuitable ground is not the way every fine racehorse gets to finish, and it is worth saying plainly that her Nunthorpe win last year stands regardless of how Friday went.

For the wider Ebor Festival week, see the [Ebor Festival 2026 results hub](/racing-news/ebor-festival-2026-results/).

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