Yorkshire good to go, but caution still advised ahead of the 2025 Festival Stakes

Yorkshire’s first run back failed to hit the mark, and his trainers are realistic that the setback may leave him open to improvement when he contests the Festival Stakes at Rosehill.

After trailing the field in The Hunter (1300m), veterinary checks confirmed the gelding had experienced cardiac arrhythmia.

He had arrived as favourite thanks to a strong strike-rate—six wins from eight starts—but co-trainer John O’Shea never felt he was primed enough to justify the market's confidence.

“There was a lot of market support for him, but it wasn’t stable inspired,” O’Shea said.

“We were adamant the horse needed a run or two, although he was never going to run that badly because he had trialled up really well and was going well at home.

“He definitely had cardiac arrhythmia, but it has rectified and his KPI’s post-that have been excellent.”

Yorkshire must complete a few more pre-race checks, but all indicators point toward him being ready to run well again in Saturday’s 1500m event.

O’Shea says arrhythmia is not unusual and may even have been influenced by a stressful resaddling at Newcastle.

Nonetheless, the stable is pleased with his subsequent work and sees this week as a key step toward next month’s The Ingham (1600m).

“There is no doubt he has got improvement from Saturday,” he said.

“Saturday is about getting back into the game with a positive run and then allowing us the opportunity to bounce off that into The Ingham.”

Early markets on Friday had Yorkshire favourite at $3.20, ahead of Accredited ($8) and Arctic Glamour ($9.50).

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