Premier Yearling Sale Stakes renamed in honour of the late Harry Beeby

The late DBS/Goffs UK chairman Harry Beeby is to be commemorated by the sales company with the renaming of the Premier Yearling Stakes run each year at York’s Ebor meeting.

Beeby, who died in October after joining the company in 1964, helped create the six-furlong contest alongside son Harry back in 1997, which in turn flew the flag for the Doncaster St Leger Yearling Sales, which is now known as the Premier Yearling Sale

Open to two-year-olds only, the Goffs UK Harry Beeby Premier Yearling Stakes is for graduates of the Premier and Silver Sales, and will be held on the second day of the Ebor meeting on August 18.

Among the top-class performers to have graduated from the sale are Acclamation, Dark Angel, Wootton Bassett and Tasleet.

Entries for this year's race will close on Tuesday, January 11 and can be made through Weatherbys and Horse Racing Ireland.

The race will also provide the additional incentive of the Premier Prizes, which were introduced last year.

The winning owners will receive a free horse from Goffs UK to be purchased at the 2022 Premier Yearling Sale for up to £40,795, and owners' badges, lunch and a bottle of champagne on the table for up to six people at York. The winning trainer will get a six-month lease of a two-stall horsebox from leading horsebox manufacturer Theault.

Goffs UK chairman Henry Beeby said: “My father and I worked for several years with John Sanderson at Doncaster racecourse to persuade the BHB to allow a race of this nature. There were many details that we insisted were just right and we were delighted with the end result, which was Europe’s richest two-year-old race that year and has proved the most enduring event of its kind.

"It is a source of immense pride that it has featured in the careers of several top-class racehorses and sires while helping our yearling sales to progress to hitherto unheralded heights."

He continued: "Dad always looked forward to the race and would have been very touched to learn of its renaming. I am very grateful to my Goffs colleagues and the team at York for this generous gesture.”

Further information can be found on the Goffs UK website.

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