Aidan O’Brien expects City Of Troy will gain some valuable experience as he makes his eagerly-anticipated return in the Native Trail’s Dewhurst Stakes.

The son of Justify made a winning debut at the Curragh in July and then blew the field away to take the Superlative Stakes by six and a half lengths later in the same month.

The National Stakes was then bypassed due to unsuitable ground and while the going was officially described as soft on Friday, connections are happy to take up their Rowley Mile engagement as they look to get another run in before the end of the campaign.

City Of Troy currently heads the betting for next year’s 2000 Guineas and Derby, with O’Brien viewing the Dewhurst as a perfect ending to the colt’s campaign.

O’Brien said: “He’s ready for his third run. Obviously he was due to the go the Curragh three weeks ago and that didn’t work, but everyone is happy with him.

“We always loved him and he’s done everything we’ve asked him so far. This should be a lovely run to finish him off for the year and give him more experience.

“Everything is well with him. He is a beautiful moving horse.”

Also entered is Owen Burrows’ Alyanaabi, a Shadwell-owned colt who was last seen winning the Group Three Tattersalls Stakes over course and distance in late September.

Of that performance, Burrows said: “I felt he had to quicken at a few stages in the Group Three last time. He had to quicken down the hill and he had to quicken going up the hill.

“I’m not concerned if there is lack of pace in the race as this horse has won over six furlongs, so if it did turn into a sprint late on I wouldn’t be concerned. He is pretty versatile.

“We always felt he was this level and the fact I pitched him in a Listed race on his second start (Pat Eddery Stakes) instead of going for a novice race under a penalty suggested that.

“He has always shown a fair level and it wasn’t out of the realms of possibility he would be rocking up in a race like this.”

Charlie Hills’ Iberian was a winner last time out when taking the Champagne Stakes under Tom Marquand, the same jockey who takes the rides at Newmarket on Saturday.

He said: “I’m looking forward to riding him and obviously he will have to take another step forward, but he holds all the credentials for a horse that you are going into a race like that on.

“It’s a different task but one he looks ready to go and tackle.

“I was very impressed (at Doncaster) like everyone else who was watching him and he showed a good turn of foot, which is what you need over seven in a Group One. There’s obviously been Group One winners behind him, albeit on different ground. He’s in top order so fingers crossed.”

On the threat of City Of Troy, the rider added: “We’ve only seen him on a racecourse twice and he’s off a three-month absence since the Superlative. While he was impressive in that, if ever there is a day to take on a horse like that, this is it. Circumstances are probably as ever in our favour as they can be and I’m looking forward to it.”

Juddmonte and Andrew Balding have supplemented Mill Reef winner Array into the race where he will be ridden by James Doyle.

Juddmonte’s Barry Mahon said: “It’s a big task, but he’s in good form and won the Mill Reef well.

“No Nay Never’s progeny seem to excel at two and there wasn’t a whole lot left for him this year, so the owners were keen to give it a go and so was Andrew and we said we’d give it a rattle.

“I think we’re confident enough about the trip – Oisin (Murphy) was pretty confident that he’d stay the seven the last day.”

Eve Johnson Houghton has an entrant in Indian Run, a dual winner this term who made his Group debut when landing the Acomb Stakes at York by a length and a half in August.

“He’s got a big day and obviously it’s a hot race, it’s a championship race,” the trainer said.

“He goes there in great form and we go there very hopeful. He’s done everything we’ve ever asked of him, so let’s hope he keeps on going that way.”

Completing the field is John and Thady Gosden’s Eben Shaddad, third in the Tattersalls Stakes, Richard Hannon’s Vintage Stakes winner Haatem and O’Brien’s Henry Adams.

Northern Ireland will hope the visit of San Marino to Windsor Park on Saturday is the opportunity they need to end their long losing run in Euro 2024 qualifying.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the game.

Back to the start

Northern Ireland’s win away to San Marino in the opening fixture of this qualifying campaign back in March feels a long, long time ago now. Back then optimism was high that the return of Michael O’Neill as manager and what was seen as a favourable draw, certainly from pot five, in Group H could offer Northern Ireland a chance of challenging for qualification. But since their 2-0 win in Serravalle, nothing has gone right for O’Neill and his players, as a seemingly never-ending injury list and a string of narrow 1-0 defeats has doomed this campaign.

A must-win game

Qualification is now beyond them but the visit of San Marino is a must-win game for Northern Ireland, who have the opportunity to reset the narrative of this campaign and deliver a performance in front of the Windsor Park crowd. Even with their problems, anything short of a victory at home against the traditional whipping boys of European football would nudge a struggling team towards a crisis.

Home doubleheader

Northern Ireland have enjoyed few home comforts of late – winning only two of their last 17 fixtures in Belfast – but after the logistical challenges of last month’s away doubleheader against Slovenia and Kazakhstan, back-to-back games at Windsor is a welcome reprieve and a chance for O’Neill to get more work done with his players in the absence of long transfers. There is also a pressure of expectation from the sell-out crowd heading to Saturday’s match, but the players already expect nothing but a win anyway.

Marshall’s moment?

Since O’Neill announced his squad for these fixtures, much of the buzz has been around the return to the senior squad for West Ham striker Callum Marshall. The 18-year-old was denied a dream international debut by VAR in June when his late equaliser against Denmark in Copenhagen was ruled out for offside, but is now expected to get another chance in green against San Marino. Northern Ireland have been desperately seeking a reliable finisher for several years and although O’Neill is reluctant to put pressure on the teenager, many have already compared Marshall to record goal-scorer David Healy.

Euro 2028

This might be the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign but after UEFA confirmed this week that the 2028 edition will be hosted by the United Kingdom and Ireland, there has been talk all week of Northern Ireland potentially getting the opportunity to play on home soil in five years’ time. O’Neill is about the only person not keen to get involved – he has more pressing concerns as he tries to mould a young squad into one that might be more competitive by then – but there is now a massive carrot dangling for Northern Ireland’s players. “It’s a big thing that’s going to be coming here, it’s fantastic,” said the 35-year-old Jonny Evans. “Who knows? I might still be knocking about.”

Steve Borthwick has urged his England players take advantage of a precious moment in their careers by claiming a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

A dangerous Fiji side block England’s path to a last-four appointment with France or South Africa at Stade Velodrome on Sunday and for many of Borthwick’s squad it is last dance territory.

Courtney Lawes and Jonny May have publicly stated this will be their final World Cup, while other senior players such as Danny Care, Dan Cole and Manu Tuilagi are approaching the end of their Test careers.

It provides additional motivation to avenge August’s shock defeat by Fiji and former England captain Borthwick knows from personal experience of how rare these moments are.

“You’ve got to take the opportunities that are presented to you. Rise to the occasion of this game because you never know what’s around the corner,” head coach Borthwick said.

“As a rugby player I thought I had an opportunity in 2003 and didn’t get picked. I went in 2007 and thought I’d be there in 2011, but I wasn’t so I played in one tournament.

“I want the players to embrace this challenge and have the time of their lives representing England. I want them to have a fantastic memory of this World Cup.

“There’s a lot of players here who have experienced knockout rugby before. There’s a lot of players who have lifted a lot of trophies at different times in their careers.

“It is quite clear that this is knockout rugby. I think that these players will embrace this challenge and I think they will really rise to the occasion.

“That’s my expectation and I think that’s what they have done throughout this tournament. I am expecting them to rise again on Sunday against Fiji.”

Millie Knight, Great Britain’s most successful Paralympic downhill skier, had not envisioned a trip to the Karate World Championships when she decided to take up the martial art as “just a hobby” while studying for her degree.

Yet that is precisely where the 24-year-old, who on Thursday announced she was hanging up her skis after winning four medals on her sport’s biggest stage, will find herself later this month after her hobby transformed into the next phase of her journey in elite sport.

Knight turned to karate after a leg injury sustained during the Beijing 2022 Paralympics and having suffered four career concussions.

By that summer she had been crowned both British and Commonwealth visually-impaired karate champion.

She told the PA news agency: “I started karate and absolutely loved it, but I never had the opportunity to pursue it further, and when we came back from Beijing last year I decided I would join a proper club and pick it back up again and take it more seriously.

“I didn’t expect to take it this seriously. It was going to be just a hobby, but I love it. It’s the most incredible sport.

“I won the English championships and then was selected for the Commonwealth, and it was kind of at that point that it was like ‘oh, wow, this is more than a hobby’.

“When I won the Commonwealths that was just bizarre, and now I’m off to the world championships.”

At 15, Knight became the youngest British athlete to compete in a winter Paralympics, being named Great Britain’s opening ceremony flag-bearer that year for the 2014 Sochi Games, a memory that still remains a contender for the highlight of her competitive skiing career.

Four years later, at Pyeongchang in 2018, Knight picked up three Paralympic medals – downhill and super-G silver as well as slalom bronze. Her fourth – a downhill bronze – came at the Beijing 2022 Games.

On Thursday, Knight – ranked world number 10 in her karate discipline – announced she was retiring from skiing, a decision she is relieved to be making on her own terms.

She said: “I’m very grateful, and now I’m really happy. It really has taken some time to come to this decision, but (now) I can talk about it with a smile on my face.”

Knight is working towards a degree at the Open University, where she is writing her dissertation on a topic close to both her heart and head: concussions in sport.

The Canterbury native, who lost the majority of her sight due to an infection when she was six, was hospitalised four times for concussions during her skiing career.

She said, “I would never wish (concussions) upon anybody. By far the worst injury that I have ever had.

“The recovery process itself is horrendous. There’s no set time-frame. It’s not something that is spoken about enough.”

The Concussion in Para Sport (CIPS) Group of medical experts and researchers in 2021 released a consensus statement, coming to the conclusion that “there is a paucity of concussion research related to para sport”.

The commonly-used Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 diagnostic test, for instance, includes criteria like assessing whether or not an athlete has double-vision – something someone with total vision loss would not be able to report, while balance tests may not be applicable to those with lower-limb or other disabilities affecting mobility.

The group has developed recommended guidelines intended to help assessors adapt the tool to individual athletes, but Knight, who last year spoke at the International Concussion Consensus, hopes her dissertation will help spark more much-needed progress.

For now, she is enjoying the freedom of her new, non-contact sport where her risk of concussion has significantly lowered.

Knight added: “It’s far safer for your brain. I’m very much safe. It’s really nice that I can step out on the tatami and know that I’m going to be safe.”

Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan plans to ignore the hype and treat Saturday’s blockbuster World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand like any other Test match.

Andy Farrell’s men will make history as the first Irish team to progress to the last four of the tournament by downing the three-time champions in Paris.

Ireland’s previous World Cup failures are well documented but Sheehan is among the younger generation of players unburdened by the baggage.

The self-confident 25-year-old feels there is a stronger mentality among the class of 2023 and will not become distracted by the media fanfare surrounding a titanic Stade de France showdown.

“Our mindset is different,” said Sheehan. “I obviously have no experience of earlier squads but the more experienced lads have shared their thoughts on it.

“I think you just treat it like another game.

“It’s knockout rugby, you can build these games up as much as you want but it can end up affecting you if you give it too much attention.

“We need to stick to our preparation, we’ve been doing that for the last three years pretty consistently at a good level.

“In my head and in most of the squad’s heads, it’s going to be pretty much same old Test rugby, you’re in an Irish jersey and you go out and perform.”

Ireland are seeking a record-equalling 18th successive win and have made little secret of their ambition to become world champions.

Farrell’s side have topped the global rankings for more than a year and go into the New Zealand game as favourites.

Sheehan, who only made his international debut in November 2021, has already beaten the All Blacks twice after helping secure last year’s milestone tour triumph and believes Ireland can go all the way in France.

“Growing up, you want to be in these big games,” he said.

“Ireland hasn’t been past these kind of stages so it’s obviously a big motivation to get one up.

“We said at the start of the competition that we want to go the whole way, we think we have the squad to do it.

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“We can’t look past tomorrow but the pride of being in this squad, it extends further than me, it goes to family and friends.

“It’s great to bring a bit of enjoyment and pride to the Irish people. Something I always think about is how many people it touches back home.

“It’s great but you can’t really get lost in it. I have a job to do, we have to go out and perform. We can think about that after.”

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill understands the excitement around teenage striker Callum Marshall but is eager not to put pressure on the West Ham prospect.

Marshall is expected to feature in Saturday’s Euro 2024 qualifier against San Marino after returning to O’Neill’s squad this month, and fans are keen to get another glimpse of a player who has already drawn comparisons to Northern Ireland’s record goalscorer David Healy.

Marshall was denied a dream international debut in June when his late equaliser against Denmark in Copenhagen was ruled out by the VAR for offside, but the 18-year-old will hope for another opportunity against San Marino and in Tuesday’s match against Slovenia.

“I don’t want to put any added pressure on a young lad who is 18,” O’Neill said. “He’s shown a huge amount of promise. We probably skew that because of the moment in Copenhagen but that was only a moment.

“I can’t think back to when we’ve had a young striker – they generally come in later…A young striker coming in always excites people.

“Like every country, you want somebody at the top end of the pitch who can be a natural goalscorer, and without putting any burden on Callum, he has the potential and has shown the potential certainly since we’ve had him in. We’ve seen that he has the attributes.

“But he’s only starting on his journey in the game. The signs are very positive and if he has the opportunity to play from the start or play some part of the game, I know he’ll approach it in the right way.”

Marshall is yet another young face in a Northern Ireland squad robbed of experience by injuries, a significant factor in a qualifying campaign that has unravelled since the opening win in San Marino in March with five straight defeats.

“It’s having that resilience which I think you build over time,” O’Neill said. “This team doesn’t have resilience yet because the players haven’t played enough, they’ve not played through the experience that Jonny (Evans) played through and Steven Davis played through.

“That’s how you build it. That’s where you get it. We have too many players still in single figures in caps to have that resilience. That’s what they will learn when they step forward into the next phase of their international career, that the expectations will be there for us as a team to do better.”

Evans echoed that view. The Manchester United defender made his international debut in Northern Ireland’s famous 3-2 win over Spain in 2009, and has seen both the highs and the lows since.

“My international career got off to a good start and then had a bit of dip but you always find that, nothing is constant,” he said.

“You’ve got to be able to handle that. It wasn’t until I was 27 or 28 that Euro qualification came around. It’s a long time but you’ve got to keep learning.”

With Euro 2028 hosting rights having been awarded to the United Kingdom and Ireland this week, there is now the hope of Northern Ireland getting to play at another European finals, and to do so on home soil. However, O’Neill said that tournament is not on his radar yet.

“The most important thing is to continue to work with this group of players,” he said. “It needs a lot of work.

“There’s been a lot of talk about this campaign having not been what we hoped and being disappointing and yes, it has been, but we have to be realistic: this group of players is not ready to qualify for a major tournament.

“Seven of them are under 21. Fourteen of them are three, four, five caps. We need to grow this group of players into a group ready for the next campaign.”

Ylang Ylang stayed on to land the bet365 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained bay was not prominent under Ryan Moore and was handled patiently after starting at odds of 9-2 in the one-mile Group One.

On soft ground the race became more of a test of stamina and in the latter stages of the contest she was able to edge past the 3-1 favourite Shuwari to prevail.

Adam Farragher feels Lordship has not stopped improving yet after William Haggas’ inmate landed his fourth success of the year in the £100,000 William Hill Finale Handicap at York.

A winner at Chepstow, Yarmouth and Haydock in the summer, it perhaps looked as if the handicapper had him in his grasp when only fourth in the Melrose at the Ebor meeting and fifth in a valuable event at Haydock.

Racing on soft ground for the first time, Farragher thought it would bring about improvement and it certainly did, as Lordship got the better of a duel with Andrew Balding’s Urban Outlook, who was chasing a hat-trick, by a length and a quarter.

“He’s been a big improver from one run to the next. He ran a super race in the Melrose and that form is red-hot,” said Farragher.

“Coming here today I thought the dig in the ground would bring out a bit more in him, I’ve been saying that since the start. It’s extreme here today, probably heavy, but he stuck it out well.

“I got him rolling early because I could see David (Probert) travelling well and I didn’t want him to get away.

“I wouldn’t know where his ceiling is to be honest, he’s improved with each run.”

The British EBF £100,000 Final went the way of Kevin Ryan’s Apiarist, who broke his maiden at the fourth attempt.

Back in August he had been beaten a head by Richard Fahey’s Sailthisshipalone and on 1lb different terms there was little to separate them again.

The pair pulled clear of the favourite Grey Cuban, with Apiarist (28-1) and Tom Eaves prevailing by a neck.

“He’s a horse we’ve always liked but it’s been slow progression. He went too quick (over a mile) last time so I told Tom to take his time today,” said Ryan.

“He’s a big, raw horse and he’ll make a lovely three-year-old. It was a nice prize to win today. He’ll probably start back at the Dante meeting like most of ours.

“We’ve had a good year. I base it on prize money now, I used to be a numbers man but the big winners give you the appetite for the job.”

David and Nicola Barron’s Pilgrim (15-8 favourite) was not winning out of turn in the William Hill EBF Novice Stakes.

Rated 83 after four good efforts, he was kept honest throughout the final two furlongs by Tim Easterby’s Elegant Call but eventually pulled a length and a half clear with the promising John and Thady Gosden-trained newcomer Gamekeeper in third.

David Barron said: “I was worried about the ground I must admit, at this time of year at the end of the season, it’s very tiring.

“Joe (Fanning) said he wasn’t in love with it but he was good enough. The handicapper can’t go too mad, so we’ll hopefully look at some of the nice sprint handicaps next season.”

Matt Peet insists he never dared to dream of the day he would be leading Wigan out in a Betfred Super League Grand Final.

The home-grown 39-year-old started as a volunteer at the club before clawing his way through the scholarship and academy ranks to assume the prestigious head coach role in 2021.

But the unassuming Peet is at pains to point out that he never aspired to the position that will culminate in him taking charge against Catalans Dragons in his first Super League Grand Final on Saturday.

“I just wanted to do the best job I could at every step,” Peet told the PA news agency. “I took pride in being a volunteer and I didn’t necessarily think I wanted to take the job in order to progress.

“If you do a good job at Wigan there are people who trust you and believe in you and that’s what happened with me, particularly with (chief executive) Kris Radlinski, who saw enough in me to promote me from within.

“It took courage for him to do that, and hopefully it will pay off.”

Emulating his early mentor, the current England coach Shaun Wane, Peet was appointed Wigan’s assistant under-20s coach in 2009, moving on to his first head coaching role in charge of the under-18 side two years later.

As head of youth performance from 2013, Peet enjoyed remarkable success, leading Wigan’s academy side to six Grand Final wins in seven years, leaving him first in line following Adrian Lam’s departure in 2021.

Like 21-year-old hooker Brad O’Neill, whom he elevated to his first-choice number nine over experienced Sam Powell earlier this season, Peet has fond memories of sitting in the Old Trafford stands cheering Sam Tomkins to victory in the cherry-and-white.

By a twist of fate Peet now finds himself plotting to disrupt a fairytale finish for 34-year-old Tomkins, who will play the last match of his illustrious career in Catalans colours.

“I’ve been to Grand Finals before as a fan and as head of youth helping Shaun, and when you look back (it) does seem bizarre, but progression and development just come naturally at this club,” added Peet.

“We’ll try our best to approach it just like any other game. There are obviously things that will be different but the main thing is we are up against a fantastic team.

“The game will be super-intense but as far as emotion goes, it won’t be too different to last week, or the week before that.”

Experience and youth will go head to head in Saturday’s Super League Grand Final between Wigan and Catalans Dragons at Old Trafford.

For some players the showpiece will represent their last time on a rugby league pitch while others aim to use the opportunity as a springboard to future success.

Here the PA news agency picks out four of the crucial battles that could decide the destiny of this year’s Super League title:

Full-back: Sam Tomkins v Jai Field

Tomkins’ stunning late try in the play-off semi-final win over St Helens provided ample proof that the 34-year-old’s prodigious rugby brain has not dimmed in the twilight of his career. In contrast, the flying Field’s game is based on speed and spontaneity, capable of cutting through the most resolute of defensive lines. Whoever wins the war on Saturday should be grasping the Super League trophy.

Wing: Tom Johnstone v Abbas Miski

Johnstone and Miski went blow-for-blow in the try-scoring stakes this season and finished the regular campaign locked together at the top of the standings on 27. King of the full-length kick-chase, Johnstone has relished his first season in France but is matched for speed by Miski, the Lebanon international who has seized his unexpected chance to star on the wing for Wigan.

Hooker: Michael McIlorum v Brad O’Neill

Intimidating, combustible and a master of the game’s dark arts, McIlorum will set the tempo for Catalans provided he can resist his former club’s attempts to ruffle his feathers. The 21-year-old O’Neill, meanwhile, brings youthful enthusiasm and an imposing physical presence in defence. Wigan need O’Neill – who seized his slot from veteran Sam Powell earlier this season – to rise to the occasion and match his imposing rival.

Halves: Mitchell Pearce v Bevan French

Australian Pearce, who has seen and done it all during a stellar career in Super League and the NRL, will also retire after the game and his already ferocious will to win will ramp up further as he seeks to bow out in style. French, fresh from snaring this season’s Super League Man of Steel, has revelled in his new role this season and brings the kind of vision and vibrancy that has proved pivotal to his side’s success so far.

Matilda Picotte made all the running to claim the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards Challenge Stakes at Newmarket.

Kieran Cotter’s enthusiastic three-year-old has some smart form figures on the Rowley Mile having won a Listed heat late last season at the track before returning to finish third in the 1000 Guineas behind Mawj and Tahiyra earlier in the year.

Returning to Newmarket on the back of an all-the-way success in the Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster, it was a case of more of the same in this Group Two event as Oisin Murphy allowed his willing partner to stride on.

The riders of chief rivals Audience and Chindit were at pains to close the gap as Murphy allowed Matilda Picotte to fill her lungs entering the dip and although the pack did close slightly in the latter stages of the contest, Matilda Picotte had enough in the tank to finish full of running and two and three-quarter lengths clear of fellow Irish raider Lord Massusus.

Cotter said: “I was a bit concerned she might falter in the last 100 yards, but she’s so much pace and she’s so genuine and they have to work hard to get to her.

“Her last couple of runs have been outstanding. I’ve been saying to the lads (owners) for a while that you wouldn’t see the best of her until the backend of her three-year-old season and she’s just got better and better.

“Oisin said today he was going too fast and she was aggressive early, but you can’t fight her, he just lets her roll and she’s incredibly tough.

“It’s fantastic as we wouldn’t have 20 horses, but we’re showing that if we have the right one, we can turn up on the day and take the money. It’s fantastic to be able to come to a racecourse like this and compete – we’re privileged to have her.

“I don’t know if she’ll run again this year. There is the Breeders’ Cup, who knows?

“There’ll be a lot of races for her next year, if we have her. I think she has an entry in the sales, but the lads were saying if she won well today they might keep her.

“She’s a horse of a lifetime and it’s been a fairy tale for all the lads.”

Dance Sequence pounced late to land the Godolphin Lifetime Care Oh So Sharp Stakes for William Buick and Charlie Appleby.

The filly came into the race with one run and one victory under her belt and started at 4-1 for the seven-furlong Group Three despite not having run since July.

Travelling in mid division, the daughter of Dubawi joined runner-up and 7-4 favourite Skellet in pulling clear of the field at the half-furlong pole before crossing the line a neck ahead of the latter horse.

The pair pulled three lengths clear of third-placed Star Music, with the winner now a 14-1 shot for next year’s 1000 Guineas with Coral.

Appleby said: “She was very impressive on her debut and today was very similar.

“William had confidence going into both races and said he was going to drop her in today. I said ‘be careful, there’s a tailwind, don’t let them get away free on the front end’, but he has such confidence in this filly, she answers every call and he didn’t have to get hard on her.

“We purposely gave her the gap after Newmarket. She’s a big, scopey filly and people would have been saying you could be going here, there and everywhere, but we’re well aware that we’re in the process of rebuilding our team and fillies like these aren’t easy to come by sometimes, so we purposely wanted to give her the time.

“We wanted to come here, get this assignment done, hopefully put away for the winter and dream about running in some Guineas trials next year.”

By his owns lofty standards the Moulton Paddocks handler has had a quiet year when it comes to top-level success, but he remains philosophical.

He added: “It’s not tough, this is the game we’re in. If you think you’ve cracked it you better go and find another sport.

“We knew ourselves this season was going to be a bit more challenging following the retirement of some of those older horses, as they’re always the pillar of the yard, but we’re confident we have some nice two-year-olds coming through.

“I don’t see a Guineas colt, if I’m being honest, but looking at some of the pedigrees we’ve got and some of the physicals, they were always going to be three-year-olds.

“Hopefully this filly is one of the sharper ones in the fillies’ division. She’s got a bit more daylight to go yet before we look at her as a serious Guineas contender in my opinion, but she’s on the right path.”

Wales fly-half Dan Biggar will banish any thoughts of Test rugby retirement when he lines up in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Argentina.

The 33-year-old wins his 112th cap at Stade Velodrome – and it will be a final Wales appearance if Argentina triumph.

Biggar announced in August that he will step away from the international arena he has graced for the past 15 years, post-World Cup.

But Wales have their sights set on going deep into the tournament and he has no intention of reaching journey’s end just yet.

“For me, I am not thinking about anything, I don’t want this to be my last day as a rugby player for Wales. Hopefully, it will be the case I have another two weeks,” Biggar said.

“For those of us who will be finishing after the World Cup there will be a bit of extra pressure, but it is also a huge motivation.

“I definitely don’t want my last day as a Welsh rugby player to be losing a quarter-final.

“We have worked as hard as we possibly can all week, doing everything we possibly can as a team and individuals to make sure we go out on a high rather than a disappointing end.”

Wales have reached a fourth successive World Cup quarter-final, with Biggar returning to action after recovering from a pectoral muscle strain suffered early in the record 40-6 victory over Australia three weeks ago.

Biggar went off after just 12 minutes, and he added: “Initially, I thought it was going to be really difficult, but we have managed to heal up okay.

“Basically, I have just been with the physios pretty much every day for the last two-and-a-half weeks and getting myself back for this. It was one which I really didn’t want to miss.

“I am just really lucky, I suppose, lucky and grateful to be preparing for a game tomorrow. It was one of those where I thought it would have been such a shame to have ended it that way.

“It is important to say it’s not about myself or anybody else leaving the team tomorrow, it is about making sure that we stay on because the belief and the confidence we’ve got in the group now is really high.”

Biggar’s game management and goalkicking will see him have a key role to play against the Pumas when Wales target a third semi-final in the last four World Cups.

“We have spoken all week about not being ready to go home yet,” he said.

“It is funny how time changes because probably three, four or five months ago if somebody had said we were going to win our pool and be in a really strong position to get to a semi-final, people would have thought you were talking absolute madness.

“So it just shows how much confidence and belief we have had as a group as the weeks have gone by and spent more time together.

“We noticed as the weeks have gone on that the support for us from back home has grown and grown, and the belief has grown.

“We are hoping to have a load of Welsh fans in here (Stade Velodrome) tomorrow. Loads of families and friends are coming to the game – I’ve got 13 people staying in my house in Toulon!

“We know we are playing a very, very tough team tomorrow.

“They have probably got a little bit more to come than what they’ve shown in the pool stages, we probably know that they are going to be right up for this tomorrow and we know how difficult it is going to be.

“I think a lot of people in Wales just think we’ve got to turn up tomorrow to get the job done. We have spoken all week about how that is the absolute opposite of what our mindset is.

“We are going to have to play a lot better than probably what we have done in the pool stages to win. Hopefully we can deliver a really good performance and make this World Cup even more special than it already has been.”