Saturday ITV Racing Tips: Kevin Blake's two bets for Day 4 of the York Ebor Festival

• Kevin Blake has two tips for day four at York

• Fancies top NH trainer to land Ebor Handicap

• A sprinter back down in the weights can go well

The fourth and final day of the Ebor Festival at York is upon us. There aren't many race meetings in Britain or Ireland where I would consider bigger to be better in terms of length, but the Ebor Festival is one that I am always sad to see end and wouldn't at all mind another day of it.

That said, don't they always say that the ideal duration is one that leaves them wanting more? If that's the case, they've got it spot on.

York - 15:35: Back Absurde

The big race of the day is the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap (15:35) and as usual it looks like a horrendously tough race to work out.

There are some fascinating lightly-raced contenders towards the front of the market, but I favour one with a different profile in the shape of the Willie Mullins-trained Absurde.

The five-year-old spent much of his career to date in training in France where he showed himself to be a Listed-class performer at around a mile-and-a-quarter. Having changed hands for €260,000 in July 2022, he was switched to Willie Mullins with dual-purpose intentions. While he has won one of his two starts over hurdles so far, he hasn't looked the most natural of hurdlers.

However, what makes him so interesting for this race is his only run on the Flat for Mullins, a second-place finish to his stable mate Vauban in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot.

Not only did Vauban have literally a stone in hand on the day, he also benefited from the run of the race having controlled the pace on the front end. In contrast, Absurde was dropped out and was left with an awful lot to do considering how the race was run. If that wasn't bad enough, he also ran into traffic troubles when trying to get into the race.

All things considered, he ran a remarkable race to finish a never-nearer second to the wide-margin winner Vauban. The handicapper evidently agreed as he raised him 3lb for that effort, but he has a great amount of potential to defy that revised mark if he gets a kinder passage through this race.

York - 16:10: Bac Albasheer E/W

The Sky Bet Constantine Handicap (16:10) is another ridiculously-competitive handicap, but one makes enough appeal to have a crack at it. The Archie Watson-trained Albasheer is the one.

He showed himself to be a very smart two-year-old for Owen Burrows back in 2020, finishing second to Chindit in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster and not finishing far behind St Mark's Basilica in the Dewhurst Stakes.

Having changed hands for 130,000gns in July 2022, he has yet to hit the mark, but he has slipped back to an attractive mark and has been shaping notably well for much of this season.

Getting back on firmer ground will be a big help and that might well prove to be the catalyst that leads to a change in his fortunes.

Racing... Only Bettor. York Ebor Festival Day 4 Preview.