Face it, York isn't 'fair' - so embrace the chaos to profit at the Ebor meeting

York's Ebor meeting is almost certainly the second biggest of the British summer, after Royal Ascot. The quality of the Group 1s, plus the genuine international significance of its titular handicap, gives it a narrow but decisive edge over Glorious Goodwood.

It all happens on what appears to be one of the fairest tracks in the country. Flat, expansive and with ground that rarely gets rattling quick and tends to turn heavy only deep into autumn, the Knavesmire is the sort of place you would build a racecourse now, let alone in the 1700s.

But as any seasoned punter will know, York is not the sort of track where you could simulate laboratory conditions. It has the same quirks as Goodwood or Epsom or Ascot, without any of the obvious geological clues.