The 2012 Flat racing season is under starter’s orders.

Here STEVE CARROLL looks forward to a mouth-watering season of action at York Racecourse.

YORK RACECOURSE are hoping super horse Frankel will prove the star attraction of a sparkling 2012 season.

The world’s best Flat horse is due to head up a not-to-be-missed Juddmonte International at the start of the Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival on August 22 – forming part of the first £1 million race day at the Knavesmire track.

Prince Khalid Abdullah, Frankel’s owner, sponsors York’s £725,000 Group 1 mile and a quarter contest, while Lord Grimthorpe has recently taken the reins as chairman of the York Race Committee.

Should the four-year-old make it to the Minster city, his appearance would likely trump the huge publicity that greeted Sea The Stars’ International victory in 2009.

He forms part of an exciting 17-day programme at York which sees prize money of £5.2 million over the course of the campaign and boasts 29 Black Type contests.

The action kicks off with the Dante Festival in May, where the road to the Derby and Oaks take a significant turn with the running of the totesport Dante Stakes and the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes.

James Brennan, York Racecourse’s head of marketing and sponsorship, said there was much to look forward to. “We hope that people will continue to back the improved programme, the richest ever Juddmonte International and the first ever £1 million raceday on Wednesday, August 22,” he said.

“Hopefully, Frankel will stay sound and it is great that his connections have been kind enough to indicate the superstar horse is coming to Knavesmire in August.

“It is always the sense, with the coming of spring, that you start looking forward. Whether it is in the quality of the prize money, the entries we will see shortly being published for the totepool Dante, the Yorkshire Cup and the rest of the Flat season stretching ahead.”

Admission prices for much of the calendar have been held, but a £1 increase has been applied to the four days of the Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival and summer Saturdays.

Brennan added: “We are pleased with the support we got from people last year – more than 360,000 people came racing on Knavesmire – and there’s a balance to be struck between putting on the prize money we want to put on, between being able to pay the electric and gas bills in this time which people will be familiar with, from having the right number of staff to provide customer service – it does ultimately need funding. We are always mindful of the money in people’s wallets.”

A programme of winter works at the racecourse included a new soft rubber surface in the parade ring, increasing the size of the Princess Mary Seafood Bar and improving drainage on grass areas to improve aesthetics and wear.

Ultimately, Brennan said, it is all about the action on the track. “I have been doing this for 12 or 13 seasons now and there are always horses to look forward to,” he added.

“There have been riding champions coming along – the likes of Silvestre de Sousa and Paul Hanagan, who has become an absolute superstar. There are some marvellous stories.”