The two speedsters faced up for the first time at Royal Ascot where the Henry Dwyer-trained Asfoora surged to success in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes.

On that occasion Big Evs finished third with fellow Knavesmire entry, Regional, also in front of him.

But it was a different story at Glorious Goodwood as Big Evs – with a 2lb weight pull from Ascot – triumphed by a diminishing short head from Asfoora in the Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes.

So now both camps are preparing for ‘Part 3’ in the Group 1 £500,000 showdown on Friday 23 August.

Dwyer, who trains in Victoria, is due to fly in first thing Monday morning ahead of overseeing an intended bridle workout on the Newmarket gallops.

Asfoora, who is currently based at trainer Amy Murphy’s stable, came through her latest spin on Tuesday and is reported to be in great order ahead of her York assignment.

Dwyer said: “All the videos I see and the gallop the other morning looked tremendous. From all our metrics and data, she looks to be going as well as she possibly can and I think she might have improved a little bit from Goodwood.

“I think just the travel has really settled her down and I think that’s been manifested by how she’s racing. She just seems a different horse mentally which has helped her. She’s able to take a sit and relax and then conserve her energy for the end of the races.

“She’s thriving, she’s eating everything in sight and holding her condition because of that. So, I really think she’s just as good as she can possibly be, so I’m very excited about heading to York with her.

“Goodwood was always going to be a nice race for her. But with the penalty, with the little freshen-up before it post-Ascot, and – as we saw – just that little downhill run, she sort of struggled with the first half of the race.

But if you take that out of the equation, she settled two lengths further forward and she probably wins the race. So that means back on a level track, assuming we begin well and get in the right barrier and the right spot, we should be pretty hard to beat.”

Whatever happens, Dwyer expects to share a drink with Big Evs owners, Paul and Rachael Teasdale, along with the three-year-old’s trainer, Mick Appleby.

He said: “It’s a good healthy rivalry. Big Evs and her are quite evenly matched – they’re one-all and it will be a really good rematch again. I had the chance to catch up with Paul and Mick at Goodwood – we had a beer afterwards and compared notes. It was good so I look forward to seeing them again at York.”

The Sky Bet Ebor Festival begins at York on Wednesday, August 21 and continues through to Saturday, August 24.