Sky Bet Ebor
Heritage Handicap, York 15:35
£500,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus,
1m 5f 188y, Class 2   
Saturday 23rd August 2025

1 Ethical Diamond 5/1F
2 Ascending 12/1
3 Queenstown 25/1
4 Stressfree 28/1
22 ran Distances: 2½l, ½l, 1l
Time: 2m 59.16s (slow by 2.56s)

Ethical Diamond lit up the Knavesmire and handed Willie Mullins a third Sky Bet Ebor, storming to victory in Britain’s richest handicap on the Flat.

The master of Closutton, far more familiar to most in the cauldron of jumps racing, had already plundered this prize with Sesenta in 2009 and Absurde in 2023. This time he sent a trio, and it was Royal Ascot hero Ethical Diamond — a strong 5-1 favourite — who carried the weight of expectation.

William Buick knew the challenge: a horse who can race keenly, one that needs everything delivered just so. The plan was patience. Sat midfield, biding his time, Buick waited for the door to open. Turning for home, the five-year-old tracked the rail, slipped into daylight, and the response was devastating. A searing turn of foot, two and a half lengths clear at the line, with Ascending and Queenstown trailing in his wake.

Mullins was beaming:

“William said he was a copybook ride. He popped off, settled and did everything he wanted him to do.

“He said once he let him go, he quickened up well.

“He won’t go to (the) Melbourne (Cup) as he won’t pass the vets down there in Australia, so we wiped that off straight away. He’s got a screw in his leg from an old injury and that is a straight no-no from them.

“That’s fine, those are the rules and at least we know now and not when they let us get all the way down there.

“I don’t know if he’s an Irish Cesarewitch horse or we let him run in an Irish Leger, we’ll have to see but I’d definitely like to move him up in grade to a Group Two or a Group Three at some stage.”

There was no mistaking the satisfaction of the long game paying off:

“We’ve just been trying to find the right tactics that suit him but it’s taken me 18 months to do that and now he’s won at Royal Ascot and the Ebor.

“Now that we have a way to ride him, he’d probably win a nice race over hurdles, I think tactics have been the making of him.

“Winning races on the Flat like this gives me exactly the same buzz as winning big races over jumps, for sure. To come here and win races like this, it’s why you do the game.”

For Buick, the race had unfolded like clockwork:

“He won the Duke of Edinburgh so well and any time Willie asks you to ride a horse, you’re grateful for the call-up – they don’t come over for the fun of it.

“I had a good trip from a wide draw. We were never going to fight to get in or do anything spectacular, we accepted it. Willie just said stay out there and let him get in his rhythm and if you get a tail to follow then great.

“I was comfortable throughout the whole race really and he’s got that killer turn of foot which set him apart from the others today.”

Ireland filled the podium. Henry de Bromhead’s Ascending chased bravely for second, with Aidan O’Brien’s Queenstown in third. De Bromhead was honest in assessment:

“I’d say he just lacked a bit of speed late on, I thought he’d quicken a bit better.

“Seamie gave him a super ride and I thought we were going better than anything but the other lad quickened past him.

“He gave me my first Ascot winner, we’re delighted to be here, we’ve had a really good day and he’s ran an absolute belter.”

Sky Bet Ebor Heritage Handicap
£500,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m 5f 188y, Class 2
22 ran
Going: Good to Firm, Good in places

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (21)    Ethical Diamond 5 9-8 W P Mullins William Buick 5/1F
2 (16) 2½ Ascending 6 9-2 Henry De Bromhead Seamie Heffernan 12/1
3 (5) ½ Queenstown 5 9-8 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 25/1
4 (10) 1 Stressfree 5 9-5 David O'Meara Daniel Tudhope 28/1
5 (20) ½ Real Dream 6 9-7 Ian Williams Joe Leavy 25/1
6 (9) ½ Hipop De Loire 8 9-10 W P Mullins Colin Keane 7/1
7 (17) nk Majestic Warrior 5 9-2 James Tate Rossa Ryan 9/1
8 (7) hd Kihavah 8 9-8 Adrian Paul Keatley P J McDonald 25/1
9 (12) 1½ Subsequent 4 9-8 Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy 40/1
10 (14) ½ Roaring Legend 5 9-6 Hugo Palmer Hollie Doyle 33/1
11 (8) hd Shadow Dance 5 9-4 Roger Varian Silvestre De Sousa 9/1
12 (2) 1 Almosh'her 4 9-2 K R Burke Clifford Lee 8/1
13 (11) nk Charlus 4 9-1 W P Mullins Jamie Spencer 66/1
14 (15) hd Fleetfoot 10 5 9-1 4ex J S Bolger Ross Coakley 10/1
15 (13) nk Siege Of Troy 4 9-3 J P Murtagh Patrick McGettigan 11/1
16 (23) 1¼ Mr Percy 5 9-1 Joseph O'Brien Tom Marquand 25/1
17 (19) 2 Oneforthegutter 6 9-2 Ian Williams Saffie Osborne 25/1
18 (18) ¾ London City 4 9-8 A P O'Brien Sean Levey 22/1
19 (1) shd Onesmoothoperator 7 9-8 Brian Ellison Ben Robinson 40/1
20 (6) 5 Enemy 8 9-2 Ian Williams Richard Kingscote 50/1
21 (22) 2¼ French Master 4 9-12 John & Thady Gosden Robert Havlin 11/2
22 (3) hd Yashin 6 9-9 Michael Bell Archie Young 66/1