By James Brennan

RECENTLY retired sprinter Battaash will visit York on Friday to parade in front of the stands, as a farewell to racegoers on the third day of the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival.

By kind permission of Sheikha Hissa Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and with the support of Charlie Hills and his Faringdon Place team, the hugely popular gelding will be at Knavesmire for York racegoers, as well as the audience for ITV and Racing TV.

To help celebrate, Battaash will be paraded in front of the grandstands ahead of the 2021 edition of the Group 1 Coolmore Wotton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes, a race he won twice.

Battaash’s record-breaking 55.90 second performance over the 1,000-metre course in the Coolmore Nunthorpe of 2019, poignantly in front of his late owner HH Sheikh Hamdan, made him officially the quickest ever on Knavesmire when beating Dayjur’s 29-year-old record.

The seven-year old's career included being, in both 2018 and 2019, the highest-rated sprinter in the world and Cartier Sprinter of the Year.

This year’s renewal of the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe is a mouth-watering prospect with the fastest horses from France, America, Ireland, England and Yorkshire set to converge on the Knavesmire.

As Bob Grace, his long-time stable hand has also recently retired, it will fall to Bluey Cannon to marshal him on the day.

The racecourse said: "Our thanks HH Sheikha Hissa, all at Shadwell and Faringdon Place for their support as we celebrate a true equine sporting hero of York Racecourse and British Racing."