IT promises to be an anxious countdown to York next week for trainer Sheila Lavery and owner Sue Chadwick as they await to see whether their hugely progressive mare Moracana manages to sneak in at the bottom of the weights for next Saturday’s Sky Bet Ebor Handicap.

Ahead of the upcoming confirmations stage, Moracana is currently number 36 in the £500,000 contest restricted to a maximum of 22 runners. In their favour is the fact that three rivals ahead of her have already been scratched from the Ebor.

A five-year-old bred by the trainer, Moracana has been a revelation over the past two seasons.

Having won her first handicap off a mark of 78 in April 2022, the Elzaam mare has risen to a rating of 97 - primarily due to wins in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Petingo Handicap at last year’s Irish Champions Festival and the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Noblesse Stakes at Cork this spring.

Extra distance

Connections believe stepping up to a mile and six furlongs for the first time in the Ebor could bring out further improvement, following a fine fifth in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot when she could have had a clearer run.

Lavery told The Irish Field: “If she gets in, she will run in the Ebor. It’s very hard to know at this stage but the confirmations for the race are on Monday so we’ll know better then. She’s also got an entry for the Listed Galtres Stakes at York on Thursday, a fillies-only race over almost a mile and a half, and that can be an option for her if we don’t get into the Ebor.

“She ran some race at Royal Ascot and we felt she was unlucky. Robbie [Colgan] really feels that stepping up a couple of furlongs in trip will suit her well. Why not start by trying that in the Ebor?”

Jessica Harrington is also targeting the same prestigious handicap with this season’s Group 3 Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes winner Yashin, who failed to fire on rain-softened ground in the Comer Group International Curragh Cup last time.

Harrington said: “He’s on track for the Ebor. Everything has been good with him. I hope the race should suit him but we need the ground to be on the nice side for him.”