SEVEN months after the gates closed behind the last horsebox to leave, York Races is ready to host festivities and competitions once again.

Last minute preparations were underway yesterday and late into the night, to get the course ready for its first race meeting of 2017.

The Dante festival begins today, with the starting gun firing on the first race at 2.20pm.

Organisers are expecting around 30,000 to 35,000 visitors and more than 250 horses to arrive over the three days.

There is a prize pot of £1.2 million waiting for the winners, and two of the feature races - the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes and the Betfred Dante Stakes - are well known “trials” for the Oaks and the Derby coming up at Epsom in June.

As the final preparations were carried out yesterday James Brennan, York Racecourse’s marketing manager, said: “I doubt there’s a white van anywhere in the county that is not here now.

“We’ve got all the fresh produce being unloaded now, and everything from the glasses to the napkins to the paper plates. The seafood will come in from the East coast through the night, and we will be making around 1000 rounds of sandwiches a day.”

Over the winter the racecourse staff have created a new “Eat Between our Races” foodcourt in the ground floor of the Ebor stand, giving racegoers somewhere to get quick meals or snacks without missing any of the action.

After two days of consistent rain in York, Mr Brennan said racing fans would still be able to enjoy themselves in York, even if the skies do not clear.

“If you live in Yorkshire long enough, you get used to the vagaries of the northern climate. They have changed the forecast half a dozen times in the last 24 hours, and they will probably change it again.

“We always say to people at the midweek meets that our stands can accommodate 40,000, but midweek we will only be attracting 10,000 to 15,000 a day. There is plenty of room inside if you need it, and it is not like the cricket where rain stops play - the action keeps going here.”

After the Dante festival, racing will be back at York in just eight days with the first Saturday’s racing on May 27. The prize pot for the whole season has this year reached £7.2 million.