Archbishop of York, Inspector Frost, Dick Turpin .. your course has helluva history; 15 THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT YORK.

Byline: JOHN CURLE

1 WHAT has ' Ebor'' got to do with York? Well, the city was founded before the Roman invasion of Britain and named Eborakon - place of yew trees. In 71AD, the Romans renamed it Eboracum, and made it the capital of the province Britannia Inferior*.

After the Roman rule ended in 415AD, the Angles named the city Eoforwic. The Vikings overran the city in 866AD and called it Jorvik. The name York gradually evolved from that.

*The name 'Britannia Inferior' means 'Lower Britain'. Romans named locations according to their distance from Rome.

2 THE Archbishop of York, since 5th October 2005 has been the Most Reverend John Sentamu, By tradition he signs his name followed by 'Ebor'.

3 OVER the course of the meeting you will hear York refered to as 'The Knavesmire'. What is that? York racecourse was originally built on an area of marshy, lowlying land called the Knavesmire, where knaves were executed.

4 THE famous highwayman Dick Turpin was hanged for horse stealing at the Knavesmire, on the spot of York racecourse. He was executed on April 19th 1739 and buried in St George''s churchyard. As one wag said recently .. it was a great finish! The last hanging on the Knavesmire was in 1801 - the gallows was moved to a location nearer the castle.

5 YORK racecourse's Ebor Stand doubled as Denton International Airport in one part of David Jason's detective drama series A Touch of Frost.

6 Pope John Paul II said openair mass for more than 200,000 people at York racecourse during his visit to Britain on May 31, 1982.

7 THE first recorded race meeting in the York area took place at Clifton Ings in 1709. But the course was prone to flooding and racing was switched to the Knavesmire in 1730. It took a lot of work to construct the horseshoeshaped course, which required levelling and draining. However the first meeting at the place we now know as York racecourse took place in 1731.

8 THE first grandstand was built at the racecourse in 1754. it was designed by architect John Carr and paid for by 250 patrons, who each stumped up five guineas (pounds 5.25).

9 WHEN Ascot was re-developed in 2005, the Royal meeting was transfered to York.

10 YORK won the Racecourse of the Year title in 2003.

11 ON racedays York has its own radio station. 'York Raceday Radio' is on 1602kHz, medium wave and can be heard up to 10 miles from the track.

12 LAST year the whole Ebor meeting was cancelled due to a waterlogged course.

13 YORK'S highest attendance for a race meeting was recorded in 1851, when a crowd estimated at 150,000 saw The Flying Dutchman, winner of the Derby and St Leger in 1849, beat Voltigeur, who took both races the following year, in the so-called Great Match. The modern era record is the 42,514 who witnessed the 48th John Smiths Cup in July 2007.

14 THE Princess Royal has ridden a winner at York. She rode Insular to win the Queen Mother's Cup on June 11th 1988.

15 AND finally, in case you''ve done your boots, there are cashpoints available at the course. These are located in the ground floor of both the Ebor and Knavesmire Stand as well as by County Stand. Let's pray you don't need them!

Compiled by JOHN CURLE

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ROYAL: The Queen at York