'A level of disappointment' for York as Juddmonte International attracts four runners for £1 million race

York will host a four-runner Juddmonte International for just the third time since 1990, prompting "a level of disappointment" from officials at the track despite Paddington and Mostahdaf being among the select group declared for the £1 million race.

Sea The Stars memorably weaved his way through two Aidan O'Brien-trained outsiders before running down their stablemate Mastercraftsman in a four-runner contest in 2009, while Singspiel caused an upset in another four-runner International in 1997 when favourite Bosra Sham finished last.

Three years ago, Ghaiyyath beat just four rivals on the Knavesmire, while Twice Over's 2011 triumph was also in a five-runner field. Japan's 2019 win was the last time the International attracted enough runners to pay each-way for the first three, so Wednesday's four-runner contest is not drifting significantly from the norm.

However, York's head of marketing and sponsorship James Brennan struck a slightly downbeat tone about the size of the final field despite its obvious quality.

Baaeed: beat five other rivals to win last year's Juddmonte International at YorkCredit: Edward Whitaker

Brennan said: "There's a level of disappointment that there's not necessarily either more of them or some of the names that we were hoping to get. It was an unfortunate injury to Desert Crown on Sunday and that happens with racehorses.

"You can have Group 1s with small fields that are utterly memorable and we saw that ourselves with Sea The Stars back in 2009. Nobody says that was a bad contest or not worth paying to see. It'll be more of the same this time I guess.

"It's part and parcel of what you get at a midweek festival and on Wednesday we'll see a crowd who are appreciative of the quality of horses they're seeing. They understand the nuance of three-year-olds taking on four-year-olds or fillies taking on colts and they're just interested in following that.

"The four that we've got have 18 Pattern-race victories already. Among them, Paddington is on for the Group 1 five-timer and there's a filly in the field [Nashwa] to add a little bit of something different."

'They deserve to get more than this'

Shadwell's Mostahdaf is one of the four runners in the International, with Nashwa and The Foxes completing the field, and the organisation's racing manager Angus Gold felt York deserved a bigger field for its standout contest.

Gold said: "I'm sorry for York that they haven't got more runners in such a fantastic race, and an incredibly important race in the international calendar. They deserve to get more than this."

Field sizes are set to be healthy elsewhere at the Ebor festival, with Saturday's feature handicap set to fill as usual and four double-figure fields – 20, 14, 14 and 20 – declared on Wednesday.

Brennan added: "Come Saturday, in the 22-runner Ebor, it's a slightly different vibe. It's one of those things.

"Elsewhere on the card, there's 20-runner handicaps for punters to get their teeth into and take on the bookies, so there's lots to look forward to and whoever wins the International will be a good horse."

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