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Betting Tips - Antepost - 2025 Ebor Handicap

Ash Symonds

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Horse Racing Tipster

Publish Date: 11/08/2025

Fact checked by: James Leeland

Key Points

Unexposed Group-level horses have a great record in the Ebor
The Duke Of Cambridge Stakes could hold the key
One horse is on the road to the Melbourne Cup, and the other is an improving filly who has siblings that won Group 1 and Group 3 contests

Hello and welcome to my first ante-post article for betting.co.uk. My name is Ash Symonds, and following horse racing has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember. In recent years, horse racing has been more than just a pastime, as writing about the sport I love is now my job.

Anyway, enough about me, this piece will highlight my two ante-post fancies for the prestigious 2025 Ebor Handicap at York later this month, a race that attracts a mixture of improving handicaps, seasoned racers, and Group-level stars looking to land a big pot.

My two horses for this year’s Ebor both raced in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, and their trainers are no strangers to success in the Ebor Handicap.

TODAY'S BETTING ADVICE FOR THE 2025 EBOR HANDICAP

York: Saturday, August 23rd – Ebor Handicap – Ethical Diamond @ 8/1 (5 places) – 0.5pt each way
York: Saturday, August 23rd – Ebor Handicap – Siege Of Troy @ 20/1 (5 places) – 0.5pt each way

BETFRED ARE OFFERING THE BEST ODDS FOR THE 2025 EBOR HANDICAP

Plenty of bookmakers are offering 8/1 on Ethical Diamond and 20/1 on Siege Of Troy at the time of writing, but only two are offering five places at this ante-post stage, and one of them is Betfred.

Furthermore, Betfred has a great sign up offer currently for new bettors. If you sign up and bet £10, they’ll give you £50 of free bets. That is pretty good value, especially with the four-day York Ebor Festival right on our doorsteps.

SEIGE OF TROY WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT, BUT ETHICAL DIAMOND HAS TO BE BACKED BASED ON ROYAL ASCOT

In races like the Ebor Handicap, I don’t mind taking a couple of swings, especially if you are getting an each-way price on both fancies alongside the tasty five places on offer at Betfred. So, with this in mind, Ethical Diamond and Siege Of Troy are my two ante-post tips.

A CERTAIN TYPE OF HORSE IS REQUIRED FOR THE EBOR

Without trying to state the obvious, Group-level horses who are still relatively unexposed in Flat handicaps have a great record in the race. Magical Zoe won the race last year on her handicap debut, Absurde scored on his second UK Flat handicap start, and Mustajeer used Listed, Group 3, Group 2, and Group 1 races as his preparation for the 2020 Ebor.

Furthermore, for those who love stats, no horse has won the race with a weight lower than 9-0 in the last 10 years, and the last horse to carry more than 9-9 to victory was Sea Pigeon (10-0) in 1979. French Master (9-12) looks a likely runner at this stage, so he should keep the weights up nicely for Ethical Diamond and Siege Of Troy, and if not, one can imagine that Wonder Legend (9-12) or Samui (9-10) will go under starter’s orders.

SHOULD YOU BET ON ETHICAL DIAMOND WAS SO GOOD AT ROYAL ASCOT?

I know some of us are bored with the ‘Willie Mullins wins everything’ narrative currently, but he simply does just win everything. He’s devastating over obstacles, and he knows how to win some of Flat racing’s biggest races. Case and point, Absurde in the 2023 Ebor Handicap.

However, I’m not just picking Ethical Diamond because of this Mullins-oriented storyline. Yes, being trained in Closutton does help his case, but it was hard not to be seriously impressed by his win in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot. Ryan Moore reported that he got a bit of a bump as well, and rather than running too keenly like he did in 2024, he took the bump on the chin and settled nicely.

Furthermore, it’s worth remembering just how much racing Ethical Diamond has done on the Flat. Since joining Mullins, he’s raced in three Flat handicaps, winning one off 96, placing in one of 89, and finishing fourth in the 2024 Duke Of Cambridge off 94. His exploits over hurdles in this year’s County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and the 2024 Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle clearly show he is a talented animal.

Earlier in this piece, I mentioned that Group-level horses who are unexposed in handicaps go well in this race. Ethical Diamond checks the latter box, and while he hasn’t tried any Group races before, I have no doubt in my mind that he is a Group horse. He made up so much ground down the outside at Ascot when other horses like Naqeeb and Mutaawid had dream runs through the race. He was very impressive, and Mullins has his eyes fixed on the Melbourne Cup for this five-year-old.

If he thinks he is good enough to go down under, he must be good enough to go close off 104 in the Ebor.

OUTSIDE BETS: SIEGE OF TROY - SHE HAS A GREAT PROFILE

Ethical Diamond is not my only Ebor pick, however. That’s because Siege Of Troy deserves plenty of respect at 20/1 on the back of her promising run in the Group 3 Ballyroan Stakes last week.

Looking at that Ballyroan Stakes, she ran a fairly huge race considering who she was up against. Rated just 99, the four-year-old by Siyouni was up against the 112-rated Crystal Black and the 110-rated Sons And Lovers, and she was only in receipt of three pounds from the pair of them.

Considering that she was wrong at the weights by eight pounds and 10 pounds respectively, finishing a staying-on third can be upgraded.

Visually, I was impressed by what Siege Of Troy did at Leopardstown. She came off the bridle early enough, but she really found plenty for pressure, and she was making good ground in the final few strides. To the eye, she tried really hard, which is always a nice trait to have.

To me, her rating of 99 just looks ready to be exploited in a nice handicap like the Ebor. As mentioned, she has Group-level form, she’s raced in just one handicap, and her pedigree is very attractive. She is a half-sister to the Group 1 winner Buckaroo and Group 3 winner Middle Earth, and she could even take on her other half-brother, Kihavah (rated 104), if Adrian Keatley decides to pull the trigger.

That final line is fairly irrelevant regarding Siege Of Troy’s chances in the Ebor, but it’s fun to mention.

Yes, Ethical Diamond was comfortably ahead of her in the Duke Of Cambridge, but this doesn’t worry me too much. Firstly, we’re keeping Mullins’ contender on side, so if the form line is as good as I hope it to be, he is working for us, not against us. Speaking of the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes, Naqeeb, the third, has since finished second in the Chesterfield Cup at Glorious Goodwood, and Mouth Atlas, the fifth, has since won a Class 2 handicap at Ascot.

Secondly, there is a chance she can reverse the form with Ethical Diamond. The step up to 14 furlongs for the first time could eek out further improvement from Siege Of Troy (remember, she stayed on through the line very nicely at Leopardstown), and she gets an eight-pound swing in the weights with Ethical Diamond, which is plenty.

Siege Of Troy also had a slightly unfortunate run through the race, as when she was looking to make her move with just under two furlongs to go, Hand Of God forced her right before the fading Blue Lemons forced her left.

All in all, she looks like one at a big price in the Ebor that has not yet shown her full potential.

CONDITIONS AT YORK SHOULD FAVOUR BOTH HORSES

One key area that is always a bit ambiguous when ante-post punting is the weather. It can be very, very cruel at times, and it can make or break a horse’s chances in a matter of hours. Yes, I’m looking at you, day two at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival.

However, this summer has been fairly straightforward. Just back horses who like quick ground. Should this methodology change for the Ebor? No.

A quick look at one of my go-to weather sites (Weather2) shows that the next week will be dry at York, and the week after will be fairly similar. The course could get a few millimetres here and there, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday, but that shouldn’t affect conditions too much.

So, will this suit Ethical Diamond and Siege Of Troy? Well, Ethical Diamond has won a Punchestown maiden hurdle on heavy, but his two Royal Ascot visits came on good to firm, and he is by Awtaad, a notorious fast ground sire, so he should be fine. As for Siege Of Troy, she has won on good and finished two good fourths on good to firm. She also went over for a Listed race in Keeneland last season and finished third on firm ground. Therefore, the quick surface should be no problem at all.

WHAT TO MAKE OF THE 2025 EBOR HANDICAP ENTRIES CURRENTLY

Betting in handicaps like the Ebor are a lot different to Group races or standard handicaps. Usually, we don’t get max fields in our Group races over here, and you’d be fairly unfortunate to get balloted out of a standard Saturday handicap. As for the Ebor, because it’s a race that trainers will highlight as a season-long target, horses can miss out fairly easily. Therefore, with a maximum field of 22, playing a horse that is above number 35 on the list can be a dangerous move.

Ethical Diamond is number 11, so he will get a run if Mullins confirms him for the race, and Siege Of Troy is number 25. While he is out of the running currently, he only needs three to drop out, and I think we’d be very unfortunate if this doesn’t occur.

Away from the two horses I’ve tipped up, Samui could be a player, but I’m worried that he has too much weight to carry. Hipop De Loire, also trained by Mullins, was an obvious eye-catcher in the race last year, but his 106 rating isn’t kind, and neither is his aggressive price of 7/2.

Queenstown has some nice form with Kyprios and Al Riffa, and while he is mildly appealing off 104, he was stuffed in this race last year off 107, and the same occurred in the Cesarewitch.

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