Founder & Editor · Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Looking for the current Ebor Festival?
Our live guide has 2026+ racetimes, TV coverage and runners as they're confirmed.
See the Ebor Festival live hubFriday 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.
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.
Where to Bet
Place your bets with a trusted, licensed bookmaker.
Promo code BETFRED50. New customers only. Register, deposit with a Debit Card, and place a first bet of £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports, to be settled within 7 days, to get £30 in Sports Free Bets and £20 in Bet Builder Free Bets within 24 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply. Take Time to Think. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. Full T&Cs.
Promo code R30. New UK customers only, 18+. Register, deposit £10 or more, then place a £10 single cash bet at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater on any sports market (excluding Virtuals). Once the qualifying bet settles you get £30 in Free Bets (3 x £10) — the qualifying bet can win or lose. Free Bets are valid on any sports market excluding Virtuals, expire in 7 days, are non-withdrawable and must be used in full. Excluded deposit methods apply (including PayPal, Apple Pay, Skrill and NETELLER). Named bets such as Lucky 15 do not qualify. If you cash out the qualifying bet, or it is voided, you are no longer eligible for the offer. Ends 31.12.26. Full T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. Full T&Cs.
Promo code BET40GET20. New UK customers, 18+. Register with the code and place a first bet of £40 or more at Evens (2.0) or greater. Receive 2 × £10 free bets: the first credited automatically once the qualifying bet settles, the second 24 hours later. Free bets must be placed at minimum odds of 4/1 (5.0), expire 24 hours after credit, and the free-bet stake is not returned with winnings. Debit card deposits only. Take Time to Think. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. T&Cs apply. Full T&Cs.
50% of your first-day net losses refunded as a free bet, capped at £25. New UK customers aged 18+ only. To qualify, deposit and place a first bet of £10 or more on any sport at minimum odds of evens (2.00), then place at least two further bets on different events, each worth at least 50% of your largest bet, all at evens (2.00) or greater. Losses are counted from your first settled bet until 23:59 the same day. Place a qualifying £10+ bet and you are guaranteed at least a £5 free bet. Bets placed at SP, void bets, cashed-out bets and bets struck with free bets do not count towards the offer. The free bet is credited the day after your qualifying bets settle and must be used within 7 days, after which it expires. It can be used at odds from 1/4 (1.25) up to 250/1 on singles and straight accumulators, but not on Trixie, Patent or Yankee style multiples. Free-bet stake is not returned with winnings. One offer per person, household, address, IP address and device. E-wallet deposits may not qualify, so check the cashier before depositing. Customers registered with GAMSTOP cannot claim. KYC identity verification must be completed before the free bet is credited. Take Time to Think. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. T&Cs apply. Full T&Cs.
New customers, 18+. Choose the sports bonus at sign-up, make a first deposit and receive a 100% bonus up to £50 in your Sports Bonus balance. To convert the bonus to cash, wager it 10x within 30 days. Single bets below Evens (2.00) do not qualify; accumulators do not qualify if any selection is below 1/2 (1.50). Virtual Sports, voided, cancelled, drawn, cashed-out and free-bet wagers do not count towards wagering. Only the first settled bet per event counts. Withdrawing before the wagering requirement is met forfeits the bonus balance including bonus winnings. Real-money funds are used before bonus funds. Deposits via Skrill or Neteller are not eligible. Not valid in conjunction with other promotions. Odds, bet and payment limits apply. 10bet general and promotion T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. Full T&Cs.
New customers in Great Britain and Republic of Ireland, 18+. Place a £10 fixed-odds qualifying bet at minimum odds of 1/2 (1.50) — single or each-way (only the win part counts), pre-event or in-play, not cashed out early, within 28 days of opening the account. Receive up to £60 in bonuses credited over three days: 3 × £10 fixed-odds free bets (the first on settlement, then 24 and 48 hours later) plus 3 × £5 Total Goals FOOTBALL spread bets, 3 × £5 racing Winning Favourites spread bets and a £1 racing Race Index spread bet (the spread bets need a full spread-betting account). Free-bet stakes not returned with winnings; free bets valid 28 days from issue. IMPORTANT: the £5 credits are SPREAD bets — sports spread betting carries the risk that losses can exceed your stake. Sports spread-betting customers do not have Financial Ombudsman or FSCS recourse. Take Time to Think. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. T&Cs apply. Full T&Cs.
Promo code WELCOME15, entered under My Bonuses after registering. New UK customers, 18+. Place a first qualifying bet of at least £10 from your cash balance at odds of evens (2.0) or greater within 7 days of opening the account. Once the qualifying bet fully settles you receive £15 in free bets, credited as 3 x £5 tokens with set uses: one £5 accumulator free bet (minimum 4 legs, each leg at 2/5 or bigger), one £5 sports free bet (any market at evens or bigger) and one £5 Sub Cover free bet (selected football player markets at evens or bigger). Free-bet stakes are not returned with winnings. Free bets expire 7 days after they are credited. Void, cashed-out and partially cashed-out bets do not qualify. One offer per customer. Confirm the current terms on BetGoodwin's own welcome-offer page before claiming. Take Time to Think. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. T&Cs apply. Full T&Cs.
New UK customers, 18+. Minimum deposit £10. Place a £10 qualifying single at minimum odds of 1/2 (1.50), settled within 14 days. Receive £30 in free bets (stake not returned), split £20 for sportsbook use (2 x £10) and £10 for Bet Builder only (2 x £5); Bet Builder does not cover horse racing. Free bets must be accepted within 7 days and expire 7 days after acceptance. No promo code required. Best Odds Guaranteed on UK & Irish racing, subject to having staked over £25 in the previous seven days. Operated by LiveScore Betting and Gaming (Gibraltar) Ltd, UKGC 56859. Confirm the current terms on LiveScore Bet's own promotions page before claiming. Take Time to Think. BeGambleAware.org. 18+. T&Cs apply. Full T&Cs.
18+. BeGambleAware.org
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.
Where to bet on UK racing: our bookmaker reviews and offers page has the latest welcome offers, Best Odds Guaranteed coverage and each-way terms for the rest of Ebor week.
Betting is entertainment, not a way to make money. The bookmaker's edge is built into every price, so treat any stake as money you are prepared to lose and set a budget before you start. Free, confidential support is available at BeGambleAware.org if gambling stops being fun. 18+.
Share this article
Research the field with the AI Race Predictor
Our model publishes calibrated win-probability estimates for UK races — a second opinion to understand a race, not tips. It's open about its record: it doesn't beat the market, and we show exactly how it does.
Betting offers for York Ebor Festival
Work it out & learn the basics
Gamble Responsibly
Gambling should be entertaining and not seen as a way to make money. Never bet more than you can afford to lose. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help and support is available.