All eyes on the Ebor as meeting finishes with a bang

The fantastic four-day festival at York climaxes with the Ebor on Saturday, the most valuable Flat handicap in Europe and a fiendishly difficult puzzle for punters to solve. There is also Group action – both for juveniles and older horses – on a card boasting over £900,000 in prize-money. Here are the highlights . . .

Will Stars be allowed to shine in Ebor?

Plenty of connections face an anxious few days waiting to see if they make the final field for the £285,000 Betfred Ebor Handicap as the 72 forfeits will be whittled down to 20 with two reserves on Thursday.

The clear market leader is the Sir Mark Prescott-trained Flymetothestars, who possesses strong Tapeta form but has yet to race on turf.

The master trainer has won the historic contest with a favourite before – back in 1994 with the George Duffield-ridden Hasten To Add.

Prescott has said the word 'soft' needs to appear in the going description for the four-year-old to run and if he was withdrawn, the likes of Top Tug, Dubka, Ivan Grozny and Mount Logan would be vying to take over the favourite's mantle.

Ignore Ryan's Gimcrack pair at your peril

Kevin Ryan has been making up for lost time since returning to the fold following the discovery of a case of equine herpes in his yard, and he will be hoping to keep his good form going this week.

The trainer loves nothing more than success at York and with two victories in the last five years, the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack Stakes has been a good race for the stable.

Ryan has two entries – Savalas and Stormbringer – and both got off the mark on their previous outings, albeit at the lower-grade tracks of Thirsk and Redcar.

The pair might not share the profile of other entries such as Cardsharp, Barraquero and De Bruyne Horse but they would be dangerous to ignore for owners Angie Bailey (Savalas) and Charles Wentworth (Stormbringer), who have both celebrated Gimcrack success before.

Mondialiste capable of regaining crown

Mondialiste has been an owner's dream. He has landed two top-flight international contests, the Arlington Million and Woodbine Mile, for Geoff and Sandra Turnbull and has also shown his class on the domestic stage.

A nose second to Success Days in the Group 2 York Stakes last time, the David O'Meara-trained seven-year-old returns to the Knavesmire in peak condition as he bids to follow up his Betfred Mobile Strensall Stakes success from 2015.

Lightning Spear will be an intriguing proposition if dropping down in grade and the likes of Sovereign Debt and Robin Of Navan add to the strength of this Group 3, but Mondialiste looks sure to have a big say.

Read exclusive previews of York's Ebor festival from 6pm the night before on racingpost.com