The Foxes And Oisin Murphy Claim The 2023 Betfred Dante Stakes

The Foxes has won the Betfred Dante Stakes at the Dante Meeting in York.

Rider Oisin Murphy got the young colt into a really good rhythm and steered him into a great position to move into the front of the pack in the final furlong. The Foxes had to stay strong at the end to fight off a late push from White Birch and had the race been a little bit longer, momentum was with Shane Foley’s ride to potentially overturn the advantage.

Pre-race favourite Passenger couldn’t quite find the rhythm to make a strong challenge for the race and he had to settle for a dead-heat third finish with Continuous. Liberty Lane showed eagerness to take the lead in the early stages but she was closely followed by huge outsider Killybegs Warrior as the trip progressed. 

But then we got to see the real class from the likes of Murphy and Foley, with the former making an impressive burst on the outside to gain the advantage. Foley’s tactic to hold and then push by the rail towards the end almost paid off but both horses gave very strong rides and served up a nail-biting finish.

Reacting to his victory, Murphy told ITV Racing: “To win another Dante, five years after winning it on Roaring Lion, it really is very exciting.”

The race wasn’t all plain sailing, however. It took a while for the contest to get going as there were some issues getting the horses into the stalls. This led to King Of Steel being withdrawn from running after there were continuous problems trying to get him into his stall.

Dante Stakes result

1st The Foxes - 6/1

2nd White Birch 12/1

3rd Continuous 6/1/ Passenger 9/2 FAV