King Of Cities

That top-level win came at York on 23 August 2025, a Group 3 victory at one of the sport's most prestigious venues. It confirmed what his Chester win the previous August — his first career win — had quietly suggested: that King Of Cities belongs in serious company. Chester is no easy track; it rewards horses with intelligence and balance, and winning there is never a fluke. York, meanwhile, is where reputations are made. Winning a Class 1 race there puts King Of Cities in distinguished company for a horse still working out his best trip.

Burke himself has been candid about the fact that his team are still figuring the horse out. He admitted after York that King Of Cities had looked a touch flat-footed when the pace didn't suit him at Newmarket, and that better use of him earlier in races might have produced even more wins. The trainer's view is that stepping him up in distance is the right call — a decision pushed by owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid — and the York win suggests he was correct. Burke described him as "very much a horse who is all about next year", which, given the quality already on the board, is an exciting thing to hear in spring 2026.

The partnership with jockey Sean Levey has been particularly productive: the two have won 2 of their 5 races together, a 40% win rate that reads almost as 2 from every 5 rides. For context, Burke's yard has sent out 140 winners this season alone — this is not a small operation going through the motions — and King Of Cities sits near the top of what they have to offer. A horse who wins at the highest level, places in everything else, and has a trainer who believes the best is still to come: that is a combination worth watching closely.