Luca Cumani's reputation as the trainer to follow in Britain's big handicaps enjoyed another boost as he sent out the winner of the totesport Ebor for the second time with Mephisto at York yesterday.

But the canny Italian and all the 6-1 chance's backers were forced to endure an agonising 20-minute wait for the result to be confirmed in a stewards' inquiry.

The highlight of the week for most punters, the Ebor has seen plenty of thrills and spills since first being run in 1843.

But this contest will rank among the most dramatic after Mephisto and valiant runner-up Gold Ring (12-1) shared a memorable scrap throughout the final furlong which saw the lead ebb and flow until Mephisto finally prevailed on the line by a short head.

Royal Cavalier led the 19 runners in the early stages as the field went down the wide outside in search of better ground in the rain-softened conditions.

Always prominent, Gold Ring set sail for home under Steve Carson three furlongs out, but the challenges came in thick and fast in the shape of Fantastic Love, Defining and Self Defense.

However, Toby Balding's charge shrugged off those rivals, only for Mephisto to appear on the outside, having travelled well in midfield in the early stages under Darryll Holland.

Asked for everything, Mephisto took a narrow advantage but veered left and bumped into Gold Ring, who put his head back in front with the winning post in sight, only for Mephisto to regain momentum and snatch success with a final thrust.

Mikado (9-1) stayed on to take third, two and a half lengths adrift of the first pair, with Defining (16-1) fourth for the each-way money.

The stewards had no option but to hold an inquiry into the incident before the placings were allowed to stand, and the longer it took for the result to come, the more the doubts began to creep into Cumani's mind.

But with the interference - for which Holland picked up a one-day ban (August 29) for careless riding - ruled not to have cost Gold Ring the race, the placings were left unchanged.

Opinions as to whether the stewards had made the right decision, particularly given the winning margin, were predictably divided.

Holland's suspension was also a slightly curious verdict, given that he had his whip in the correct hand and appeared to take as much corrective action as possible to keep his mount straight.

Even stipendiary steward Anthony Gillam admitted it had been ''a very tight call'' for the panel to have to make.

Cumani talked of ''a race full of ups and downs''.

''A furlong out I thought we might win, half a furlong out I was sure we were going to win, and then on the line I thought we had lost,'' he said.

''So to find we had won, only to have to wait before it was confirmed, has been a very painful few minutes.

''Darryll said it was the first time the horse had ever done anything like that, but he was just so tired in the ground that he was leaning.

''In fact I don't think he liked it at all. All of his form before today had been on good or fast ground. But he is a very, very brave horse.''

Cumani loves nothing more than winning this kind of contest, although he declined to say exactly when he had first identified it as a target.

''It is a difficult balance,'' he said. ''When he won at Goodwood we picked up a 7lb penalty and that nearly cost us today.

''But before he ran at Goodwood I said to the owner that winning there might cost us victory here, so we had weighed up the possibilities.

A possible trip Down Under for the Emirates Melbourne Cup on November 2 may now be under consideration, although much will depend on the view of the Australian handicapper as to the merit of his British form.