Majestic Warrior aiming to realise long-term Ebor plan

James Tate is hoping a long-term plan comes to fruition with Majestic Warrior in the Sky Bet Ebor at York on Saturday.

Successful in two of his first three races in 2023, the Churchill five-year-old then defied an absence of almost two years when bolting up at Thirsk in April.

Having seen his rating shoot up from 89 to 98, Tate has resisted the temptation to run since, instead electing to keep his powder dry for Europe’s richest Flat handicap.

“We’ve preserved his mark of 98, which we thought would get him in the race and give him the best chance I suppose,” said the Newmarket handler.

“The only concern is he doesn’t have as much experience as many of them in the field, but he’s in very good form, he’s a good horse and we’re looking forward to running him.

“We decided not to run him again after Thirsk and we’ll see if it’s a good plan halfway through Saturday afternoon.

“If he’d gone and won another small handicap he’d have been near enough top-weight, alternatively if we’d gone for a Listed race they’re probably worth £40,000 added most of those and this is £500,000 added, so we’ll give it a whirl and if it doesn’t work we can go somewhere else after.”

When asked whether he felt his charge was well handicapped, Tate added: “We hope so, but you don’t know do you? He’s a horse we’ve always liked, a mile and six (furlongs) will be his ideal trip, I would have thought, and I think he’d go on anything from good to soft to good to firm.”