A premier race meeting at York as one of the most valuable handicaps in the entire season took place on the Knavesmire. Always the most well known meeting at York outside of the Ebor Festival, the feature race is a ten furlong handicap is affectionately known to older racegoers as the Magnet Cup and has been sponsored by local brewery company John Smiths since the mid-1960's, making it the longest serving sponsor of any horse race in Britain. Last year's winner was Johnny Drama, the biggest career win at the time for jockey Josh Bryan. The John Smiths Cup has often been a springboard to greater success for both horse and jockey. Many rising stars of the saddle landed the prestigious race as an apprentice before going on to have leading roles as professionals, such examples include Adam Kirby, Andrea Atzeni and Adam Beschizza. Former winners of the race in recent times include Arcalis who landed the valuable pot in 2004 before winning over hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival in the Supreme Novice Hurdle and it has proven to be the stepping stone to Group race success for the likes of Wigmore Hall, Green Destiny, Euchen Glen and Master Carpenter. 
On the undercard of the meeting, feature races include the Group Three Summer Stakes for fillies and mares as well as the City Walls Stakes, a race which was moved from Chester back in 2012 and provided the subsequent winner of the Nunthorpe Stakes in 2021, Winter Power.