LIBERTANGO heads up George Boughey’s bid to bag his first Sky Bet Ebor Festival winner

The in-form Newmarket-based trainer has enjoyed Classic glory alongside high-profile victories at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood this season.

Now he is targeting big-race success at York Racecourse – and Libertango is set to be his leading lady.

The two-year-old daughter of No Nay Never struck in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

Subsequently, she went down by three parts of a length in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket.

But Libertango showed up nicely in a gallop earlier this week and Boughey is looking forward to taking aim at the Group 2 Sky Bet Lowther Stakes on 20 August, for which the sponsor makes her favourite.

Boughey said: “She’s training super. Great to be able to have a team to bring to York of the quality that we do. It’s taken a few years to get there, but she certainly headlines it.

“Our first two-year-old winner at Royal Ascot, and I think things didn’t quite go her way at Newmarket. Possibly the track had something to play with that. She’s a very fast filly who we’re still learning about, to be honest.

“It was a stiff six at Ascot, and Billy (Loughnane) played her very late, and that seemed to work. I just think on a level track again we could see her to best effect.”

Hopewell Rock looks likely to carry the stable’s hopes in the £500,000 Sky Bet Ebor, the feature race of Saturday, after winning a very competitive mile and six furlong handicap at Glorious Goodwood.

Boughey commented: “We’ll prepare him for York. I think with the Ebor being a win-and-you’re-in for the Melbourne Cup, it’s a beautiful spot for him.

“The programme doesn’t really have many other options in handicaps for him, in my opinion, so it’s certainly route one to the Ebor.

“If he wasn’t to win, he needs to get some stakes placed-form to qualify, and we might have to travel a bit further afield.

“But it’s all systems go for the Ebor and hopefully he gets there in the same condition he went to Goodwood.”

Also on course for the Knavesmire is Moonfall, who stamped himself as a progressive three-year-old when victorious at Royal Ascot in the Britannia Heritage Handicap.

The Starman gelding has since finished fourth of eight on the July Course, but the signs are positive ahead of the Sky Bet Mile Heritage Handicap.

Boughey said: “He just seems in a better place than he did at Newmarket.

“We always thought he was a stakes horse. He had a very interrupted second half of his two-year-old career and finally got it together into Ascot. That had been the plan for a while.

“His work suggests he’s off a mark he can be competitive. It’s hard to see where he could quite get to, but I think York should play into his hands.”

Boughey has several other horses under consideration for nursery and handicap options at York Racecourse’s flagship meeting of the season.

He said: “I do think that we’re starting to get a better quality of horse to bring to these festivals. To have five, six, seven, eight runners there who all have single-figure price chances is great. It’s what we all do it for.

“I think we’ve built a really nice team for the week.”

The four-day Sky Bet Ebor Festival runs from Wednesday 19 August to Saturday 22 August.