CLEVER COOKIE will bid to bag the richest ever renewal of the Betway Yorkshire Cup when the new season gets under way at York Racecourse next month.

The seven-year-old, trained at Barton-le-Street by Peter Niven, is one of 27 horses given an entry in the £150,000 contest staged on the third day of the Dante Festival on May 15.

Clever Cookie made a transition from classy hurdler to smart stayer on the Flat, winning successive races at York last spring.

His rapid progress through the ranks then saw him compete in a Group 2 contest last September at Doncaster where he was fourth to Estimate, beaten by only two lengths.

Since then Clever Cookie has enjoyed a well-earned break but now Niven is planning fresh glories for his charge – and the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup is firmly on the agenda.

Niven said: “He likes York and I like it as well. He has wintered well – it has been the first break he has had for 16 to 18 months. He is all the better for it.

“We will try and get a prep run for him before York, although we are a bit short of options. There will be a race, even if we have to drop to a mile and a half.

“But he is quite a clean-winded horse and it wouldn’t matter either way. It is only for our own peace of mind that I’d like to get a run into him.

“He is in great nick. We should see an improved horse. But he has shown he has got a fair level of ability and doesn’t need to find a lot to be competitive in some big races, hopefully.”

Another possible runner in the contest is Brown Panther, bred and part-owned by former England footballer Michael Owen, who won the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup last weekend.

Hambleton trainer Kevin Ryan, who won the Group 2 Betfred Dante Stakes with The Grey Gatsby 12 months ago, returns for another try with Flaming Spear - a York winner on his only outing to date last season.

North Yorkshire has won the last two renewals of the mile-and-a-quarter-long Derby trial, and Leyburn's Karl Burke, successful with Libertarian in 2013, is set to saddle Lord Ben Stack in the £160,000 feature on May 14.

One of 69 entries, Lord Ben Stack won a maiden at Haydock before finishing fifth to Elm Park in the Group 2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket.

Burke said: “Lord Ben Stack has definitely trained on and is a lovely big horse. He goes to Newbury for a conditions race on April 17. If he went and won or ran very well and was second to a good horse, then he would nearly certainly take his chance in the Dante.

“He has got it all to prove but he won his maiden at two and probably wasn’t entitled to do that – he didn’t look a two-year-old, he was a huge horse last year. He has filled his frame, strengthened and is doing everything right at the moment at home.”

Ribbons is one of five Group 1 heroines entered in the Group 2 Betfred Middleton Stakes on May 14.

The Prix Jean Romanet winner is joined by Rizeena, Tapestry, Just The Judge and Madame Chiang among 27 interested in claiming record prize money of £110,000.

Sutton Bank-based Ryan has won the Duke of York Clipper Logistics Stakes twice in recent years through Amadeus Wolf and Tiddliwinks.

He is responsible for three of the 48 entries for the £110,000 Group 2 contest, on May 13, including last year's runner-up Astaire and Temple Stakes winner Hot Streak.

G Force, winner of the Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock for Nawton trainer David O'Meara, could also take his chance, along with dual Nunthorpe Stakes winner Sole Power.