Gimcrack Stakes

The Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 race for two-year-old colts and geldings at York’s Ebor Festival in August.

The 2025 Gimcrack Stakes takes place over a distance of 6 furlongs on the third day of the 2025 Ebor Festival.

The race has produced Classic winners including Mill Reef (1970), Nebbiolo (1976), Turtle Island (1993) and Rock of Gibraltar (2001). In more recent seasons the trend has been for high-class speed horses including champion sprinters Muhaarar (2014) and Blue Point (2016).

In our Gimcrack Stakes 2025 guide, we provide the latest odds, betting tips and betting offers for the group three horse racing event.

Find out more about the Gimcrack Stakes:

Race Overview – The Gimcrack Stakes

The Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race for two-year-old colts and geldings contested in the United Kingdom, every year in August. It is held at York over a distance of 6 furlongs.

Check out our guides to all the other Group 2 horse races.

Some of the horses in the Gimcrack Stakes will run in other events later in the year. Stay updated on the horses and place ante-post bets if you want to wager on them.

Take a look at our guide for horse racing tips at York.

Our special tippers for racing provide outstanding tips for the races at York!

Gimcrack Stakes Previous Winners

Gimcrack Stakes Previous Result

Check out this result from York Racecourse:

Famous Gimcrack Stakes Winners

The Gimcrack Stakes was first run in 1846 and was named after a 27-times winner, although none of them were at York.

It was open to both sexes until being restricted to colts and geldings in 1987.

It is currently held on day 3 of the York Ebor Festival meeting.

Among the earlier winners was Bahram, a Triple Crown winner for His Highness The Aga Khan. Only Nijinsky (1970) has managed to complete the Triple Crown since, although it is no longer a priority with the breeding industry now more focussed on speed than stamina.

The brilliant Mill Reef won the Gimcrack in 1970 and later added the Dewhurst Stakes. He was beaten by Brigadier Gerard in one of the finest renewals of the 2000 Guineas ever witnessed. Mill Reef excelled over middle distances, winning the Epsom Derby, the King George and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Nebbiolo (1976) was the next horse to go on from the Gimcrack to lift a Classic, taking the 2000 Guineas. He defeated subsequent Epsom Derby winner The Minstrel.

1993 winner Turtle Island had a marked preference for soft ground and would revel in the testing conditions to win the Irish 2000 Guineas by 15 lengths.

Rock of Gibraltar (2001) won ten of his thirteen career races, winning seven consecutive Group 1 races for Aidan O’Brien. His notable victories included the 2000 Guineas, the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes. He was the most recent Gimcrack winner to win a Classic but the race has produced Champion sprinters Muhaarar (2014) and Blue Point (2016).

Muhaarar had enough class to win the seven-furlong Greenham Stakes first time out as a three-year-old, breaking the course record in the process. Things did not go his way in the French 2000 Guineas but he reverted successfully to sprint distances, his victories including the Commonwealth Cup and the July Cup.

Blue Point won over £2.6 million in prize money for Godolphin. His best season was in 2019 when he won twice at Royal Ascot, taking the King’s Stand Stakes and the Diamond Jubilee Stakes. He was named 2019 Cartier Champion Sprinter.

Key Gimcrack Stakes Trials

The most informative trial for the Gimcrack Stakes in recent years has been the Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. Three of the last twelve winners ran in that race, all three finishing in the frame at the Sussex track.

Course form is a definite positive with four of the twelve having recorded at least one previous victory at York.

The Gimcrack winner has almost automatically been aimed at the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket next time.

Eight of the last twelve Gimcrack winners ran in that race with Astaire (2013) taking the Group 1 prize.

Caspar Netscher (2011) followed up successfully in the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury while Threat (2019) won the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster next time out.

Gimcrack Stakes Betting Trends

Only three of the last twelve favourites have won the Gimcrack Stakes; Blue Point (2016) at 11-8, Threat (2019) at 11-10 and Minzaal (2020) at 5-2.

There have also been five other winners from the first three in the betting during that period.

Shock results are rare in the Gimcrack with only Sands Of Mali (2017) at 14-1 falling into that category in recent years.

An official rating of 104 or higher is normally required to win this race. Astaire and Muhaarar both won off that rating while the highest rated winner in the last twelve seasons was Threat (111).

All twelve winners had recorded at least one previous victory and all but one had raced more than once.

Gimcrack Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys

You have to delve deep into the history books to find the leading trainers and jockeys in the Gimcrack. William l’Anson Jnr trained seven winners between 1881 and 1903 while John Osborne Jnr rode nine winners between 1852 and 1880.

Kevin Ryan has a fine record in the Gimcrack with four winners. He won with Amadeus Wolf (2005), Blaine (2012), Astaire (2013) and Emaraaty Ana (2018).

William Haggas has three winners; Conquest (2006), Approve (2010) and Ajaya (2015) and Richard Hannon Jnr has won it twice in the last three seasons with Threat (2019) and Lusail (2021).

Frankie Dettori won it for the first time with Abou Zouz back in 1996, trained by David Loder. The same combination struck again with Country Reel in 2002 and Dettori won it for the third time aboard Emaraaty Ana in 2018.

Best Gimcrack Stakes Betting Sites

The Gimcrack Stakes has regularly produced top-class winners including numerous Classic winners.

Although the current trend is for top-class sprinters, it remains a very informative race for the top juvenile races in the Autumn.

Shock results have been rare and it usually provides a competitive race with each-way betting opportunities.

Summary of Gimcrack Stakes

We hope you have enjoyed our guide to the Gimcrack Stakes.

It is of the best races of the season and at the York Ebor meeting, many top-class performers have won the race and gone on to even greater things.

It’s one of our favourite races of the year.

2025 York Ebor Festival Posts

Here are all the related articles to the York Ebor Festival 2025:

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