Sophia’s Starlight could be set for bigger and better objectives having continued her upwards curve when landing the William Hill Great St Wilfrid on Saturday.

Grant Tuer’s progressive filly has always been held in lofty regard by connections, but it has been during this season she has proven it on track, racking up five victories in nine starts and rising over 20lb in the handicap since shedding her maiden status at Wolverhampton in May.

Still heading in the right direction following her triumph under Sam James in the prestigious Ripon handicap, the daughter of Hunter’s Light does have the option of a quick return to action at York later this week, where she holds an entry for Thursday’s British EBF 40th Anniversary Fillies’ Handicap.

However, Nick Bradley, managing director of the syndicate that carries his name, envisages Sophia’s Starlight skipping that he eyes a busy autumn that will see the three-year-old stepping up in class to black-type contests.

He said: “She could go to York later this week, but looking at the weather forecast I don’t think she will.

“But she will have Group and Listed targets between now and the end of the year and she’s going to have a busy September and October.

“I thought something like the Challenge Stakes (Newmarket, October 13) could be a long-term aim and the five-and-a-half (furlong) fillies’ only Listed race at Ayr (Arran Scottish Sprint EBF Fillies’ Stakes, Sept 22) could be a target for her as well – it’s a race we won the other year with Dandalla.”

It may have taken Sophia’s Starlight slightly longer than connections imagined to reach the level at which she now operates, but credit has to be given to the perseverance of Tuer and his team following a frightening incident in the stalls during the early stages of her career.

“She’s a very smart filly and I remember this time last year standing at the Ebor thinking this thing is a certainty in a novice at Carlisle and then she went under the stalls,” continued Bradley.

“She went under the stalls and then every time she went in the stalls after that she was freaking out and starting her races with an incredibly high heart rate.

“Grant had said before then she was probably the best horse he’d ever trained and he’s now been proved right.

“She went off and did a lot of stalls work and now we’ve got to the stage where we can load her with a hood and she’s much more relaxed about it.

“I think she’s ground dependent a little bit so we went to Ripon and it was just what we needed, we were delighted.”

Chelsea are waiting to discover the extent of the injury suffered by Carney Chukwuemeka at West Ham.

The 19-year-old scored his first goal for the Blues at the London Stadium to cancel out Nayef Aguerd’s early header.

But Chukwuemeka had to be helped from the field with a knee injury shortly before half-time.

“We need to assess him (on Monday),” said Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino.

“There will be an assessment with the doctor. We hope it’s not a big issue, but we need to wait.”

Further goals from Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta’s stoppage-time penalty condemned Chelsea to a 3-1 defeat, despite West Ham playing the last 25 minutes with 10 players following Aguerd’s red card.

The Blues had the chance to go 2-1 ahead before half-time but Enzo Fernandez’s spot-kick was saved by Alphonse Areola.

France international Areola insisted he was confident about saving the penalty despite his wretched record.

The 30-year-old is West Ham’s new first-choice this season having been promoted ahead of veteran Lukasz Fabianski, who has an excellent record of saving spot-kicks.

Areola, by contrast, had let in all four of the penalties he has faced for West Ham, as well as watching all 10 fly past him in a Carabao Cup shoot-out defeat by Blackburn last season.

He said: “I think we showed that we are strong defensively and can score after that.

“We tried to survive first and then with the red card, which was unlucky, we showed that we have the character and we are now experienced.

“I was quite confident on the penalty. I was ready and luckily for me and for the team I stopped it. I was happy and happy for the team, and I think it helped the team to push and keep our belief.”

Catalans Dragons became the first club to secure their place in the Betfred Super League play-offs on Saturday after their win over Leigh.

With Wigan, St Helens and Leigh more or less secure in the top four, and Castleford and Wakefield embroiled in their own exclusive battle to beat the drop, the PA news agency takes a look at the increasingly-frantic battle for the final two play-off slots.

Pld 22; Pts 22; GD +21
Remaining fixtures: Aug 26, Hull FC (A); Sep 2, Castleford (H); Sep 8, Salford (A); Sep 15, St Helens (H); Sep 22, Huddersfield (A).
Wire were unlucky to slip to a seventh-straight league loss on Sunday and the momentum is against them heading into the final weeks.
Key man: Matt Dufty
Prediction: 7th

22/22/-3
Remaining fixtures: Aug 25, Wakefield (H); Sep 1, Wigan (A); Sep 8, Warrington (H); Sep 15, Hull KR (A); Sep 22, Catalans (H).
Friday’s big win at Huddersfield raised hopes for Paul Rowley’s side but they face arguably the toughest run-in of the lot and are likely to come up short.
Key man: Marc Sneyd
Prediction: 8th

22/22/-23
Remaining fixtures: Aug 25, Leigh (H); Sep 1, Catalans (H); Sep 8, Huddersfield (A); Sep 15, Salford (H); Sep 22, Wakefield (A).
Willie Peters’ men are tough enough to rouse themselves from their Challenge Cup pain and take advantage of a favourable run-in to secure their top-six slot.
Key man: Elliot Minchella
Prediction: 5th

22/20/+59
Remaining fixtures: Aug 27, Huddersfield (A); Sep 2, Hull FC (A); Sep 8, Wigan (H); Sep 16, Catalans (A); Sep 22, Castleford (H).
Despite a chaotic campaign, few would dare bet against the Rhinos summoning a customary late-season surge and their favourable points advantage could make all the difference.
Key man: Cameron Smith
Prediction: 6th

22/20/-81
Remaining fixtures: Aug 26, Warrington (H); Sep 2, Leeds (H); Sep 8, Castleford (A); Sep 16, Huddersfield (H); Sep 22, St Helens (A).
Tony Smith’s side are another to show signs of emerging from a forgettable campaign but even the best run-in of the lot is likely to leave them agonisingly short.
Key man: Jake Clifford
Prediction: 9th

22/18/-80
Remaining fixtures: Aug 27, Leeds (H); Sep 1, Leigh (A); Sep 8, Hull KR (H); Sep 16, Hull FC (A); Sep 22, Warrington (H).
Ian Watson’s men are another to show signs of improvement but Friday’s loss at Salford effectively ended their hopes of muscling in on the post-season party.
Key man: Chris McQueen
Prediction: 10th

England forward Bethany England has called for stakeholders to invest in the next generation of Lionesses to ensure her side’s historic World Cup run does not amount to a one-off.

Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Spain in the Sydney final meant England’s women under Sarina Wiegman came just short of bringing a World Cup trophy home for the first time since Sir Alf Ramsey and his men were crowned world champions in 1966.

Second was still a best-ever result for the Lionesses in a global showpiece, beating the bronze medal from eight years ago in Canada, and Spurs striker England is determined for the moment to live on as part of a lasting legacy.

She agreed knowing this summer’s campaign would still inspire millions of young people was a “huge comfort”, adding: “Everyone wanted us to win, we wanted us to win and we didn’t, but hopefully we’ve still been able to show that we can do it, we can get there.

“Hopefully this opportunity will come round again but I think for everyone that we have inspired, everyone that’s stuck with us along the way, everyone that’s supported us, I can’t be more thankful for them.

“Hopefully again, more funding, everything gets pumped into grassroots because the talent’s there, you’ve got to go and find it and I think for us we’ve shown that we can compete at major tournaments and get all the way so the more we can help the younger generations for the future the better.”

The 29-year-old was part of the squad that last summer lifted the Euro 2022 trophy at Wembley, a first major tournament triumph for the Lionesses, though England did not feature in a single minute of the competition.

She was more involved in the World Cup, playing 56 minutes as a substitute across five of the Lionesses’ seven matches.

In January, England took a big risk when she left Chelsea after seven years to join Tottenham, where she hoped to get more playing time and impress back-to-back European championship-winning boss Wiegman enough to earn a ticket to Australia.

Like the rest of her team-mates, England, who ended the season with the third-most goals in the Women’s Super League, admits “it’s sad” not to have gone all the way in the World Cup, but added: “A lot of emotions. We’ve come so far, we’ve been together now nine weeks on the road and I think everyone can hold their heads high. We gave everything.

“Unfortunately, we fell at the last hurdle but ultimately I think everyone should be more than proud of what they have achieved. We’ve made history already. Hopefully we’ve continued to inspire the nation.”

Days after England and her team-mates secured their European title last summer, the Lionesses wrote a letter to then-Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak demanding an equal PE provision for girls and boys after learning that, according to Football Association (FA) data, only 63 per cent of schools offered girls’ football in lessons.

Their campaign paid off on International Women’s Day in March, when the government announced that girls would be granted equal access to all school sport as part of a package of measures backed by over £600 million in funding over the following two academic years.

Nearly six months after that pledge, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, speaking in Sydney, told the PA news agency the government is optimistic that a universal offering would be achieved by the end of that period.

She said: “We made a massive investment and commitment in making sure that young girls in school can play the games that they want to, just like the boys.

“We will be monitoring how schools are taking that up, because we really want to ensure that there is equality for boys and girls in school, whether they want to play football or cricket or any other sport.

“I’m confident that we will achieve our target because it is really important that we get more girls involved in sport.”

The Prime Minister and FA president Prince William were criticised for not travelling to Sydney to watch Sunday’s unprecedented encounter, with some arguing the pair would have definitely made the journey if Gareth Southgate’s men were to find themselves in a World Cup final.

The Prime Minister, Prince of Wales and King Charles sent remote messages of support, and Frazer was insistent that Sunak “feels very passionately about the women’s game.”

Whether that enthusiasm will ultimately translate into additional earmarked government funding and investment at the end of the initial two-year commitment remains less clear, with Frazer adding: “What the Lionesses have done is set in train a massive legacy where we’ve seen significant investment going already.

“But of course further investment is considered at appropriate points in the spending review cycles.”

Alice Haynes has nominated the Heider Family Stables Round Tower Stakes as Asadna’s next target as he tries to get back on the winning track.

The son of Mehmas burst onto the scene when storming to a 12-length success at Ripon on debut and as a result was widely considered a future star in the making.

However, he had his momentum checked when struggling to land a blow in the Coventry Stakes, after which the youngster was switched from George Boughey to the Cadland Cottage hander.

Asadna was dropped to Listed level for his first start for Haynes and although only third to Archie Watson’s Action Point in Newbury’s Rose Bowl Stakes, his trainer was satisfied with the performance and having skipped a run at the Qatar Goodwood Festival on account of conditions, she now prepares to saddle the talented colt at the Curragh.

“He is going to the Round Tower at the Curragh on Saturday,” said Haynes.

“The Richmond was soft ground and I couldn’t run him on that. Hopefully it will stay top of the ground weather over there and that’s his restarting point. We’ve obviously got some nice entries after that but that’s where we’re heading first.

“He ran well enough off a pace that wasn’t really there (at Newbury). Hollie (Doyle) got it easy in front and set her own fractions and sprinted from there. We learnt he needs a fast gallop to aim off and that’s what he’ll best pick up off.”

Middleweight contender Hamzah Sheeraz believes fighting in Dmytro Mytrofanov’s “lion’s den” in Poland will make victory even sweeter when the pair face off on Saturday night.

Sheeraz has the chance to extend his unbeaten 17-0-0 record against former Olympian Mytrofanov (13-0-1) as part of the undercard to Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois’ heavyweight bout.

The London fighter acknowledged his opponent’s quality but remains confident he is stronger in every department ahead of their hotly-contested clash.

“It’s going to be my toughest fight to date, but with the sparring and training I’ve been doing I’m confident in my ability,” Sheeraz told the PA news agency.

“It’s in his back yard and I’m walking into the lion’s den and that’s something I’m going to thrive off, it’s going to make victory that little bit more sweet.

“He’s been to the Olympics, he’s got a good amateur pedigree, he’s undefeated, he’s had a few knockouts and knows his way around the ring, so it will be a good test for me.

“In every department I am that bit better than him – close fighting, long-range fighting. The only thing he’s banking on is that he’s never been stopped or hurt in the amateurs, but when you get in there with someone who can whack a bit it’s a bit of a different story, and so when I fire shots and land we’ll see what happens.”

Sheeraz boasts an impressive record of 11 straight fights since 2018 where he has stopped or retired his opponent.

But the 24-year-old insisted he is ready to go the distance if required, adding: “All of these fights which I’ve won by knockout I was prepared to go the distance and as a pro fighter and future elite fighter, that’s what you are ready to do.

“The knockouts come naturally and I haven’t not had one for a few years now and long may it continue.”

Sheeraz is relishing the opportunity to gain exposure through fighting on a big card and backed fellow Brit Dubois to claim heavyweight glory against WBO, IBF and WBA king Usyk.

“It’s a great undercard to be on, someone like Usyk, I aspire to get to his level,” Sheeraz said.

“Even though I’m focusing solely on my fight, the cameras, the interviews and going over to Poland, getting that different bit of exposure on that eastern block of Europe, it will be good for me and I’m looking forward to it.

“In terms of boxing and what it actually is, he’s an elite heavyweight and he has a puncher’s chance, so all he’s got to do is land his shot and once he lands his shot – such as a right hand – it could be over (a Dubois win).

“It’s definitely a tough ask, but it’s not an impossible one.”

Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake have been named as Wales co-captains for the Rugby World Cup.

The Ospreys forwards will lead a squad that includes recent international newcomers in wing Rio Dyer, centre Mason Grady and prop Corey Domachowski.

But there is no place for scrum-half Kieran Hardy, with Wales head coach Warren Gatland deciding to select just two nines in Tomos Williams and Gareth Davies.

Gatland has chosen a split of 14 backs and 19 forwards for the tournament, with Fiji looming as opening opponents in Bordeaux on September 10.

Fly-half Gareth Anscombe and number eight Taulupe Faletau have won Gatland’s vote in the final 33-strong group despite not featuring during Wales’ three-game August schedule due to injuries.

And he has named Lake, who is currently recovering from a knee injury, and his fellow hooker Ryan Elias (hamstring), plus lock Dafydd Jenkins (knee), who at 20 is the squad’s youngest player.

Centre George North, meanwhile, will head to his fourth World Cup, putting himself in illustrious company alongside the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Brian O’Driscoll, Dan Carter and Richie McCaw.

North and his midfield colleague Grady can also provide wing cover, with Gatland opting for five back-three players – Liam Williams, Leigh Halfpenny, Louis Rees-Zammit, Josh Adams and Dyer.

Also heading to France are Scarlets centre Johnny Williams, who watched the last World Cup four years ago from a hospital bed while he was treated for testicular cancer, Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow and former England prop Henry Thomas.

Thomas, whose father is from Swansea, won seven England caps in 2013 and 2014, but new World Rugby regulations enable players to appear for another country either of their birth, parent or grandparent provided a minimum three-year period has elapsed since last being selected elsewhere.

Other players from Gatland’s training group who did not make the final squad include Ospreys wing Alex Cuthbert, Gloucester centre Max Llewellyn, Cardiff prop Keiron Assiratti, Ospreys lock Rhys Davies and Scarlets back-row forward Taine Plumtree.

Gatland said: “The toughest part of the job is always selection and this is particularly the case when it comes to picking a Rugby World Cup squad.

“Over the past three months the whole group of 48 players in the wider training squad have been outstanding in terms of attitude and effort, so having to reduce the squad down to the final 33 has been really hard.

“There have been some close final decisions in the last 36 hours.

“But we can only take 33 players and those we have selected we think offer a good combination in terms of talent and experience.

“We have a few more training sessions here in Wales before we depart for France on September 3 and we cannot wait to get out there and get started in this tournament. We look forward to what lies ahead for this group.

“This will be a very proud moment for these players, their families and friends and I would like to congratulate them all on the achievement.”

Ivan Toney believes he was made an example of as a high-profile Premier League player.

The Brentford striker was banned for eight months in May after admitting 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules.

Speaking to Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Toney claimed that his punishment was disproportionate compared to what previous, lower-level players had been given for similar offences.

“I feel so, yeah,” he said when asked if the FA had looked to make an example of him.

“I don’t think it’s right, no. We actually did look at some cases that were somewhat similar or worse and their punishment wasn’t how mine is. The fact that I’m playing in the Premier League doing well, sniffing round England, it’s kind of like, ‘Right, this is our chance to punish him’.”

Toney also felt the timing of the allegations being made public was linked to him being left out of the England squad for last year’s World Cup.

He said: “I guess it comes down to the allegations but personally I feel it was a bit of a questionable time when they decided to bring it all out and then when they actually dealt with the situation come the end of the season.

“The biggest punishment for me was missing out on playing at the World Cup. I felt more hurt and down around that time, like somebody’s out to get me to stop me from playing for England. That was the lowest point.”

Toney admitted he initially denied betting on football when confronted by the FA before co-operating with the investigation, although he insisted he does not remember placing bets on his own team to lose.

“In the 232 breaches there were some bets I don’t recall making but I was willing to take responsibility just to get the process all over and done with because having that hovering over me and trying to concentrate on my career is far from the best feeling,” he said.

The 27-year-old also claimed that using someone else to place bets for him was to hide how he was spending his money from his parents rather than from the authorities.

Toney’s suspension was shorter than it could have been, with the FA taking into account his diagnosis as a gambling addict.

“You never think of the negatives,” he said. “Being on the money I was on, it was like, ‘It’s fine, I’ll get it back at the back end of the month’. It was just waiting for pay day.

“My stubbornness comes into play and it was kind of like, ‘No, I’m fine, I can stop when I want to stop’. You don’t allow yourself to believe it. I feel like it’s 50-50. You could have stopped but the thrill is what keeps you going.”

Toney, who has three young children, insisted he has now stopped gambling, saying: “I think it’s being in the public eye. If I was going into these places (betting shops), I think it’s more the embarrassment. I wouldn’t allow myself.

“You take a back seat and look at all the money you’ve lost and what it could have gone on, and especially now having people to provide for. I see that as being naive.”

Toney is banned until January 16 and he is not allowed to train with his team-mates or spend time at Brentford until September 17.

“I feel like the hard part is now because right now I’d be playing football matches and I can’t even be around the players and at the football ground,” he said.

“If I wasn’t as strong as I was in my head, that would break some people. We talk about mental health, what’s that doing to a player that’s not allowed in the environment? How is that going to help them?”

Toney thanked Brentford boss Thomas Frank and England manager Gareth Southgate for their support and vowed to come back stronger.

He added: “Not that I need to prove anybody wrong but there’s a lot of haters and doubters out there thinking, ‘He ain’t going to be the same when he comes back’.

“Actually they’re right, I’m going to be a different man, I’m going to be even better than that guy that scored those goals before. I’m built different, my mentality’s different.

“I want to be playing for England and scoring goals. I want to be the main man wherever I go. I know we’ve got Harry Kane, who is probably one of the best strikers in the world if not the best, and that’s what I’m up against, so I need to get to that level.”

Everton have condemned “vile” racist abuse aimed at midfielder Amadou Onana on social media and vowed to track down the alleged perpetrator.

The Premier League club released a statement on Monday revealing the 22-year-old Senegal-born Belgium international had been targeted and reiterating its zero-tolerance stance on discrimination.

An investigation is under way with the Toffees ready to support police in any action they may take.

The statement read: “Everton Football Club strongly condemns any form of racist and discriminatory abuse towards our players.

“The club is aware of a racist post targeted at Amadou Onana. Such abuse is vile and will not and should not be tolerated.

“The club is conducting an investigation to identify the individual responsible and will also be supporting police with any investigation they conduct.

“We must all take a zero-tolerance stance by reporting such behaviour to social media platforms and the authorities. Racism has no place online, in our stadia or in our communities.”

Onana, a £34million signing from French club Lille last summer, played the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s 4-0 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa.

The defensive midfielder has been linked with a move to Manchester United in recent weeks.

Two victories in the Nunthorpe Stakes rank highly among the career highlights of “adopted Yorkshireman” Kevin Darley.

The Staffordshire-born rider enjoyed a long and successful career in the saddle spanning over three decades, from his first competitive mount in 1976 to his eventual retirement in 2007.

Having lifting the champion apprentice title in 1978, it took Darley a while to climb the ladder as a fully-fledged professional – but from the mid-1990s he began making a name for himself on the Group One stage and in millennium year he was crowned Britain’s champion jockey for the first and only time.

It was in 1997 that Darley first struck Group One gold at York as he and Coastal Bluff shared the spoils in one of the most memorable and dramatic renewals of the Nunthorpe in recent history.

Coastal Bluff was a 6-1 shot for Yorkshire trainer David Barron and Darley recalls having high hopes before a major tack failure soon after the start threatened to ruin his chances.

“He was a little bit of a quirky horse, but he’d won the Stewards’ Cup and the Ayr Gold Cup the year before, so he was obviously a horse with potential,” he said.

“He just needed things to go right on the day, which we thought they might do in the Nunthorpe until the stalls opened and two strides later the bridle broke!

“When something like that happens you’re just riding on instinct really. It’s five furlongs in a straight line and we were probably going 40 miles per hour without any brakes!”

It is testament to Darley’s skills and Coastal Bluff’s talent that he was still in there pitching as the line loomed and he flashed by the post alongside Ya Malak, trained by David Nicholls and ridden by Alex Greaves.

The judge was ultimately unable to split the pair and declared a dead-heat, seeing Greaves become the first female jockey to ride a Group One winner in Britain.

For Darley’s part, he was happy with the result.

He added: “The track opened up more back then than it does now and my immediate thoughts passing the line were ‘what am I going to do now’ and ‘how am I going to stop’!

“I was totally unaware of the result until I got back, but I didn’t think I’d got beat. The dead-heat was probably a good result in the end.”

Nine years later came Darley’s second Nunthorpe triumph as he teamed up with another popular sprinter in Eric Alston’s Reverence.

Success was significantly more straightforward in 2006 as the jockey’s mud-loving partner made every yard of the running in soft ground and came home with two lengths in hand over Amadeus Wolf.

Darley and Reverence went on to enjoy another top-level win that year in Haydock’s Sprint Cup and in all the combination claimed seven victories.

“I still see Gary Middlebrook (owner) at the races and we had some great times together with Reverence,” said Darley.

“I think he was plagued with injuries in the early part of his career, but credit to Eric who took his time and once he found the key to him, he never stopped progressing really.

“He was phenomenal little horse and a real character. He loved a bit of cut in the ground and you just let him do his own thing.

“He was one of those horses that was blessed with a lot of early tactical speed and in the Nunthorpe I think the other jockeys in behind were thinking ‘he’s going too fast’, but Reverence used to fill himself up a furlong down and was able to go again.”

Darley rode almost 2,500 winners before hanging up his riding boots, many trained in Yorkshire, and he has fond memories of booting home those on the Knavesmire.

“I still live in Yorkshire, I’m an adopted Yorkshireman and I always say if you’re on the best horse at York, you should win really and there should be no excuses because it’s a very fair track,” he said.

“Credit to them as resources wise they put everything back into the track and I think any jockey past or present will tell you it’s a pleasure to go there really.

“They moved the winner’s enclosure a few years ago to be a lot more public friendly. I always used to like the old winner’s enclosure as you walked through the crowd with a rope either side of you.

“I thought when they changed that you’d never get the same atmosphere, but it is exactly the same and that’s a credit to York and the people that go there – it’s a great stage.”

Desert Crown will undergo surgery after sustaining a season-ending fetlock injury on Sunday.

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, last year’s Derby winner was being put through his paces on the Al Bahathri gallop ahead of an intended run in York’s Juddmonte International Stakes on Wednesday when the injury occurred.

He was immediately transferred to the Newmarket Equine Hospital where the four-year-old will be operated on.

The son of Nathaniel’s Epsom triumph is the notable highlight in a career that has been plagued by setbacks and he has been seen just once since his finest hour, when losing his unbeaten record to Hukum in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes in May.

He subsequently missed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot due to a setback, with a leg infection preventing a rematch with Hukum in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes last month.

This latest injury will rule the colt out for the rest of the season, with his racing career hanging in the balance.

“I’ve just been to see him and they will operate this morning,” said Bruce Raymond, racing manager for owner Saeed Suhail.

“It is a fetlock injury and he won’t be running again this year, that’s for sure.”

England will learn on Tuesday the consequences for their World Cup group campaign caused by Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell being summoned to face rugby’s judiciary.

Six Nations, the organisers for the warm-up fixtures, has announced Vunipola’s hearing for being sent off for a dangerous tackle against Ireland will take place on Tuesday evening.

Earlier that morning, Farrell faces an independent disciplinary panel for the second time in a week after World Rugby appealed the decision to overturn his red card for a high challenge against Wales.

Both players are facing six-week bans that can be reduced for mitigation but with just one match left until the World Cup – against Fiji on Saturday – any suspension will impact their quest to qualify from Pool D and most importantly their key opening fixture against Argentina on September 9.

Vunipola is the squad’s only specialist number eight while Farrell is its captain, talisman and goalkicker, making the duo influential personnel who Steve Borthwick can not afford to lose.

Each player was shown a yellow card that was upgraded to red by the bunker review system after making similar tackles in a collapse of England defensive discipline.

Vunipola’s came on Saturday during a 29-10 rout by Ireland in Dublin, the Saracens back row clattering into Andrew Porter’s head with his shoulder.

A week earlier Farrell had ploughed into Taine Basham’s head, causing the Wales flanker to fail an HIA.

The original disciplinary hearing cleared Farrell, finding mitigation in a late change in dynamics by Basham, but an outcry followed the failure to issue a ban and World Rugby appealed.

Paddington and Mostahdaf will face off as a field of four go to post for Wednesday’s Juddmonte International at York.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained Paddington will be seeking a fifth successive Group One triumph, having landed the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes, Eclipse and Sussex Stakes on his last four runs, cementing him as the cream of the three-year-old crop.

He will clash with Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner Mostahdaf as he moves back up to 10 furlongs, with the Ballydoyle team opting not to field Point Lonsdale in support.

Mostahdaf’s trainers John and Thady Gosden also run Nashwa, winner of the Falmouth Stakes, while Andrew Balding’s The Foxes completes the line up.

Sir Michael Stoute did not declare Bay Bridge, leaving him without a runner after last year’s Derby hero Desert Crown sustained a season-ending injury on Sunday.

The Gosden-trained Gregory headlines five in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes, with the Queen’s Vase winner seeking to underline his St Leger claims in this traditional trial.

Castle Way is Charlie Appleby’s contender having won the Bahrain Trophy last time with O’Brien relying on King Edward VII Stakes runner-up Continuous.

Gordon Stakes third and fourth, Canberra Legend and Artistic Star, represent James Ferguson and Ralph Beckett respectively.

Six go to post for the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes headed by Richmond second Ballymount Boy, whose form got a huge boost when his Goodwood conqueror Vandeek won the Group One Prix Morny on Sunday.

Naas maiden winner Edwardian is O’Brien’s pick with Cogitate, Hot Fuss, Indian Run and Loose Cannon the other Group Three runners.