WITH emphatic wins by three of the best horses in the world, last week's four-day Ebor Meeting once again proved that it is one of the best meetings of the entire Flat race season.

Although Ryedale yards did not fare quite as well as they had hoped anyone backing local runners blind would have been well in pocket thanks to the last-gasp success of Tim Easterby's charge, Excellent Times, who won the concluding race on Thursday at 66-1.

That was in one of the lesser races in a week in which the big Yorkshire crowds were captivated by the wins of Enable, Stradivarius and Battaash who all put up scintillating performance on the Knavesmire.

Sadly none of the trio are based in Yorkshire, but their trainers John Gosden and Charlie Hills gave local racegoers the chance of seeing three really top-class horses.

Enable, who is now a five-year-old, was making her last appearance in Britain when she lined up for Thursday's Darley Yorkshire Oaks and with only three others to take her on she was sent off a hot favourite at 1-4 and she won as expected to the delight of everyone who had gone to the Knavesmire specially to see her.

Ridden by the ebullient Frankie Dettori, she made all the running and though for a stride or two it looked as though her main rival Magical might give her a real race, once Dettori really asked her she strode away to win by a decisive two and three-quarter lengths.

Her career began on a cold late November evening on the all-weather track at Newcastle in 2016. Se won that day and has been beaten only once since, her 13 wins include 10 at Group 1 level and she has amassed prize money of more than £9 million.

She runs in the colours of owner Khalid Abdullah, whose racing manager is former Westow-based Lord Grimthorpe, and has been expertly handled throughout her career by Newmarket trainer John Gosden. She now has just one target left, to try and win the Prix de L'arc de Triomphe in Longchamp, Paris at the beginning of October for an unprecedented third year in a row.

After her win last week, Gosden said: "The plan has always been to go for a third win in the Arc, and then to retire her. I am a great fan of the Breeders Cup and she won at Churchill Downs last year, but we want to be fair to her so she won't go this year, the Arc will be her last race."

Gosden is also the trainer of Stradivarius, who landed Friday's Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Stakes for the second year in a row, and for the second year earned her owner an extra £1 million bonus for winning the three major staying races of the season.

Like Enable, his first win came on a chilly November evening at Newcastle in 2016 and his first race in 2017 was in a handicap at Beverley which he duly won even though it was over a distance well short of his best. He has now won 13 of his 18 races and is likely to be retired after running at Ascot's Championship meeting in October.

Unlike the two Gosden horses the Charlie Hills-trained Battaash had never won in Yorkshire.

In fact his successful career had been rather blighted by two notable flops in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York which is regarded as being the premier sprint race of the season.

But on Friday he laid that particular ghost with a scintillating performance in the Group 1 event, making all the running and winning unchallenged by the best part of four lengths under Jim Crowley.

It showed that on his day Battaash is a world-class sprinter and Yorkshire racegoers were lucky enough to see him last week.

Those three horses rather overshadowed the first £1 million Ebor, which was won by the Irish-trained Mustajeer and the wins of Derby third Japan in the Juddmonte International and of Logician, who looked a live candidate for the St Leger at Doncaster after his impressive success in the Great Voltigeur Stakes.

ALTHOUGH he sent his usual strong team to last week's Ebor meeting, Musley Bank-based trainer Richard Fahey had to settle for just one winner, but an exciting one it was, for the juvenile Valdermoro made it two wins from three starts when taking Wednesday's Group 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes in the hands of local rider Tony Hamilton.

Bought for 50,000gns by his trainer at Tattersalls Newmarket Breeze-Up Sales in April, he had won in good style at Doncaster on his previous outing but was tackling significantly stronger company this time.

However, he proved well up to the task by coming late to beat the Aidan O'Brien-trained Harpocrates by neck.

Owned by Martyn Macleod, who is a great supporter of Ryedale racing, the world now looks his oyster and Fahey said: "He is a horse we've always liked and we were hoping for a good run.

"He has plenty of good entries and we will take him home and see how he comes out of the race before making any firm plans."

His win was the second of a magical hour for his trainer who also won both divisions of the juvenile maiden at Carlisle with horse running for the first time, Deb's Delight and David Nolan taking the first and Amysmont and Sean Davis the second.

The latter looked a bright prospect when scoring by more than four lengths without being given a hard race.

Overall, the Ryedale two-year-olds did not run quite as well as had been expected at York, in particular Spartan Fighter as Declan Carroll had expected a good run from him in Friday's Gimcrack Stakes.

However, he never seemed to be travelling for Danny Tudhope and never got into the race, finishing eighth of the 12 runners nearly ten lengths behind the well-regarded winner, Threat.

FOR many Ryedale racing fans the highlight of Ebor week was the 66-1 win of Excellent Times in Thursday's British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies Handicap on Thursday.

Trained by Tim Easterby, she didn't appear to have the strongest form in the field for she hadn't won this year and on her previous start, also at York, had finished well beaten after breaking a blood vessel.

But having been given a break, she came out a rejuvenated filly, and after weaving her way through the field under Phil Dennis she got up in the last stride to beat Agincourt by a head.

Afterwards Easterby said: "I expected her to run well and Phil gave her a great ride. I didn't think he would get a run through but somehow he managed it.

"After she broke a blood vessel last time I sent her home, she was turned but came back fresh and well."

Overall the four days at York were rather frustrating for Agincourt's trainer David O'Meara for though several of his horses ran well, he failed to get a winner.

However, his luck changed on Sunday when the classy Suedois finally won a Group race in Britain when by taking the Group 3 Weatherbys Racing Bank Supreme Stakes at Goodwood.

He is a classy performer as he won both the Group 2 Boomerang Stakes at Leopardstown and the Grade1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland back in 2017 but had never repeated the feat in Britain despite running some fine races in top company.

He finally came good, for with Danny Tudhope giving him a more forward ride, he landed the Group 3 by a neck from Momkin with the favourite Limato a disappointing sixth.