York Ebor Festival Day 1 tips: Back our 5/1 double & find £250+ in free bets

The Sky Bet Ebor Festival kicks off on Wednesday, featuring a massive opening day of action headlined by the famous one-mile-two-furlong Juddmonte International Stakes.

Defending champion Ombudsman is the star attraction in the Juddmonte International, set to take on top-class rivals like Constitution River in one of the most anticipated betting heats of the week. The high-quality card also includes two other major contests: the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes for elite three-year-old middle-distance stayers, and the fiercely competitive Group 3 Acomb Stakes.

Have a look at our betting tips for the races, as well as the best new customer offers available from UK betting sites.

York Ebor Festival Day 1 betting offers & free bets

With some big races on Wednesday at York, now is a great time to sign up to some new UK betting sites. The sign-up offer from Tote stands out, as they offer £20 in free bets from a stake of just £5.

Alongside this, Coral are offering new customers £30 in free bets, which is a nice amount to split between each race on Day One of the York Ebor Festival. Take a look below for even more free bets to use on the racing action this week.

York Ebor Festival Day 1 Betting tips

Day One of the York Ebor Festival sees seven competitive races, with our tips for the Great Voltiguer Stakes and the Juddmonte International listed below.

• 3.00 – Maltese Cross @ 2/1
• 4.10 – Ombudsman @ 1/1
• Double @ 5/1

Maltese Cross to showcase ability

Maltese Cross heads to the Knavesmire tomorrow afternoon as the star attraction in the Group 2 Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes on the opening day of the York Ebor Festival.

William Haggas’s progressive colt has enjoyed a stellar 2026 campaign, graduating from a Newbury novice win in April to a brilliant runner-up finish behind Christmas Day in the Epsom Derby.

He returns to British soil having reached a career-high last month with a magnificent Group 1 triumph in the Grand Prix de Paris, proving he is a top-tier three-year-old stayer with massive potential.

The defining factor for Tom Marquand’s mount tomorrow will be the 5lb penalty he must carry for that Parisian success, making this a stiff test as the yard prepares him for a potential St Leger or Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe bid.

The market is predicting a rematch with Aidan O’Brien’s Epsom victor Christmas Day, who comes into the race after settling for second in the Irish Derby. While conceding weight to a Derby winner is a monumental ask, Maltese Cross has improved with every run this year; his sheer class and versatility on the ground make him a formidable pick to reverse the Epsom form and claim the spoils at York.

• Tip 1: Maltese Cross @ 2/1

Ombudsman can show elite speed again

Forget the pretenders, the undisputed king of the ten-furlong division is back on the Knavesmire tomorrow, and Ombudsman is an attractive pick of day one to defend his Juddmonte International crown.

John and Thady Gosden’s superstar five-year-old has been nothing short of a machine this season, arriving at York with a flawless 2026 record after swatting away elite fields in the Dubai Turf and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

With William Buick in the saddle, the Godolphin blue is flying high, and this Night Of Thunder colt looks even more menacing than the beast who tore up this exact track twelve months ago.

The big talking point for Wednesday’s £1.5 million feature is the mouth-watering generational clash against Aidan O’Brien’s young gun, Constitution River. Sure, conceding 7lb to a dual Group 1-winning three-year-old is no walk in the park, but let’s be real, Ombudsman is operating on a completely different planet right now.

With stablemate Devil’s Advocate locked in to guarantee a blistering, true pace, the race is tailor-made for the defending champ’s devastating turn of foot. Back him with total confidence to put the young upstart in his place and cement his legacy with back-to-back York masterclasses.

• Tip 2: Ombudsman @ 1/1