Adrian Keatley in confident mood ahead of Kihavah outing

Last year’s runner-up Kihavah is “better than ever” as he aims to go one better in next week’s Sky Bet Ebor at York.

Adrian Keatley’s dual-purpose performer has been in great form recently, winning the Queen’s Cup on the Flat at Musselburgh before finishing second in the Summer Hurdle at Market Rasen.

Last year he beat all bar Henry de Bromhead’s Magical Zoe having had just two behind him with three furlongs to run and despite racing off 9lb higher, Keatley can see no reason why he should not run well again.

“He’s better than ever it seems. He lumped around top weight in the Summer Hurdle, 10lb more than he had the previous year and he was a little unfortunate to get beat as we probably just kicked 200 yards too soon,” said Keatley.

“I think he was giving the winner 17lb and it just told late on.

“He likes York which stands for a lot, it just depends what runs on the day but we’ll be hoping for a very good run.

“He was second last year in it, he was unfortunate not to win on his last run on the Flat as PJ (McDonald) got locked away on the winner and there was nothing he could have done.

“We’ll ride him for luck and hopefully he can win off the mark he’s on.”