Luke Morris aiming to make more York memories

Arc-winning jockey enjoyed Ebor meeting success with Marsha and Alpinista in recent years.

For Luke Morris there are always fond memories when he steps through the gates of York racecourse for the Ebor Festival.

Morris has amassed over 2,000 career winners, with 13 coming at Yorkshire’s premier Flat racing venue. But it is during the Knavesmire’s showpiece meeting that Morris has enjoyed two of his biggest days on home soil.

Those victories aboard two of the most successful mares in recent history – first Marsha in 2017 and then Alpinista five years later – are days the 35-year-old will always treasure, and ensures York, and the Ebor meeting in particular, remains close to his heart.

“I was extremely lucky to ride two superstar fillies to win at York and they are still my only two domestic Group One winners,” said Morris.

Luke Morris celebrates winning the Nunthorpe Stakes on Marsha
Luke Morris celebrates winning the Nunthorpe Stakes on Marsha (Simon Cooper/PA)

“York has been an extremely lucky track for me and this week is always one of the most exciting weeks of the year. It has always been an extremely lucky place and I would love to get some more there this year.”

Both Marsha and Alpinista were trained by Morris’ long-time ally Sir Mark Prescott and few can forget the day the Heath House speedster tasted Nunthorpe glory in the most dramatic of races.

The daughter of Acclamation would go on to command 6,000,000 guineas at the sales and in one of the final outings of her career she secured her sixth and last victory, denying American speedball Lady Aurelia.

A photo was required to separate the pair as they flashed past the post in unison, but whereas Frankie Dettori was to feel bitter disappointment having been certain of getting the verdict aboard Wesley Ward’s raider, it was Morris who had the shock of his saddlecloth being announced as the winner.

Marsha (second left) narrowly wins the Nunthorpe Stakes
Marsha (second left) narrowly wins the Nunthorpe Stakes (Simon Cooper/PA)

“The Nunthorpe was a great race and going past the line I thought I was beat, so there were lots of mixed emotions that you don’t always feel,” explained Morris.

“You think you are beat and then the result of the photo was announced and it was a special moment that came in one of the feature sprints of the year.

“There was a lot of disbelief when the result was announced and it was great for it to go my way, she was an extremely special filly.

“She was like a bullet, I have never ridden a horse as fast as her and I was lucky to find one as good as her.”

Alpinista winning the Yorkshire Oaks
Alpinista winning the Yorkshire Oaks (Mike Egerton/PA)

Later came Alpinista, the gallant grey who had already amassed four Group One victories by the time she lined up for the Yorkshire Oaks in 2022, but they had all come in either France or Germany.

Sent off the 7-4 favourite with a pair of Oaks winners among the opposition, the Kirsten Rausing-owned mare set out to replicate her achievements on the continent in front of a home crowd desperate to see her gallop into Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe contention.

Despite pressure up the home straight from Tuesday, Alpinista was always too much for Aidan O’Brien’s Epsom heroine to handle, as she brought up her fifth consecutive success at the highest level to the delight of the Yorkshire crowd.

She would soon add a sixth triumph in perhaps the greatest of all races, strutting round ParisLongchamp for Arc glory. If that is Morris’ finest day in the saddle, there is no doubt that afternoon in York paved the way for that crowning moment on the Bois de Boulogne.

“Alpinista was incredible. Her constitution was great and she never let anyone down,” continued Morris.

“She was so straightforward and tough and to be associated with a horse like her, I will be forever grateful.

“She had obviously won four Group Ones in Germany and France and it was a hot race with the likes of Tuesday and some other good fillies in there. She needed to step up again on what she had already done and you are never sure if she would be able to.

“For her to step up again and then do so again in Paris was incredibly special.”

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