Rodri recognises he may have scored the most important goal in Manchester City’s history.

The Spanish midfielder tucked home City’s winner as they beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final and completed the treble in Istanbul on Saturday.

The 26-year-old now hopes City can build on winning the European crown for the first time to establish a long-lasting dynasty.

Rodri, who has developed into one of the world’s best midfielders since his £62.8million move from Atletico Madrid four years ago, said: “From my point of view I want to thank the team. It’s a victory of many years of work at this amazing club.

“They trusted me to come here, even though the change wasn’t easy. It was a new culture for me and I arrive now scoring the most important goal in the history of this club.

“We deserve this. What a season. We deserve it.

“I said this before the game it was so important to win against Inter because we can build a legacy for the future. This is what teams like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, AC Milan – these kind of clubs – did in the past.

“We believe we can do it again. I think that’s why it’s so important.”

City were not at their sparkling best at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

With Inter proving obdurate opponents, City could not replicate the swashbuckling football that swept aside Arsenal and Real Madrid recently, or even reproduce the control they exerted over Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

They instead relied on their character and quality and Rodri eventually made the crucial breakthrough in the 68th minute with a controlled strike from just inside the area.

Rodri said: “I think it was the only time I went forward in the game because Inter were so narrow and I wanted to make sure the two strikers weren’t comfortable.

“In that moment I just saw the space. In the first moment I thought about shooting strong but then I realised there were six or seven players in the goal area and I was like, ‘no, I’m going to put it inside the first post’.

“The end result was incredible but there was half an hour still to go so it was a big effort from all of us.”

The goal capped a memorable season in which City retained the Premier League – their fifth title success in six years – and beat arch-rivals United at Wembley to claim the FA Cup.

They are only the second side to win all three of those trophies in the same season, emulating United’s achievement in 1999.

Their success was savoured by owner Sheikh Mansour, who had travelled to Turkey to watch a City game in person for only the second time since he purchased the club in 2008.

The sheikh’s backing has propelled City from mid-table in the Premier League to the top of the European game and Rodri was keen to pay tribute to the players that paved the way for their success.

He said: “I said when I finished the game I don’t want to forget players like Fernandinho, Sergio (Aguero), David Silva, (Vincent) Kompany – many players who worked eight, nine, 10 years at this club to help it arrive at this level.

“We take the fruits (of their labour) and this victory is for all of them.”

City partied overnight at their hotel in Istanbul before leaving for home on Sunday afternoon. They were flown back to Manchester on a club-liveried Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

The celebrations will continue on Monday as they hold an open-top bus parade through Manchester city centre.

Another mouthwatering clash with Tahiyra has got Saeed bin Suroor counting down the days to Royal Ascot with Mawj.

The pair were involved in one of the best races of the Flat season to date when duelling in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

On that occasion Mawj came out on top, but Tahiyra has since won the Irish equivalent and the bookmakers make her favourite to turn the tables in the Coronation Stakes on June 23.

“She grew a little bit when she was in Dubai,” said Bin Suroor of his diminutive filly.

“What I do with two-year-olds, when I see they are small and skinny, is give them time between races and that helps them.

“She hasn’t really grown that much but at least she has a big heart.

“We ran her over seven (furlongs) in Dubai and then she won well over a mile. When she came back to England she went and won a Classic. She’s a very special filly and we’re looking forward to Ascot.”

Looking ahead to the rematch he went on: “Dermot Weld’s filly is very good, she was second in the English Guineas and went and won in Ireland, she’s very tough.

“Our filly should run well, we’re happy with her and looking forward to it.

“I think a mile is perfect for her. Maybe in the future we might look at something different, but at the moment a mile is fine. We might look at nine furlongs some day.

“There are lots of races for her over a mile, the Falmouth, the Sun Chariot, races like that. We’ll see, but I think a mile suits her well.

“I don’t think we’d ever be looking to come back in trip with her.”

Paul Struthers will return to the Professional Jockeys Association as a consultant, along with Frankie Dettori’s commercial agent Peter Burrell.

Struthers, who left the organisation after 10 years at the helm in 2021, returns to assist the board in his capacity as chief executive of his own company Moya Sport, which specialises in PR support to governing bodies.

Burrell has been recruited to seek out additional income for the PJA and its members, and to act as an adviser on other important commercial matters.

The appointments, made with immediate effect, are to support “specific projects”, according to a statement from the organisation.

In recent months, heightened tensions over the perceived handling by senior PJA figures of critical issues such as the whip review, valets’ pay and the closure of racecourse saunas led to a revolt by jockeys and the resignation of CEO Ian McMahon.

Jon Holmes, the sports agent who counts the likes of Nick Luck, Gary Lineker and Ruby Walsh as clients, then resigned as PJA chair along with board members Simon Cox and Mick Fitzgerald.

Seven new members were appointed to the PJA board last week – Henry Brooke, Neil Callan, Tom Marquand, Andrew Mullen, Jonjo O’Neill Jr, Tabitha Worsley and Nick Attenborough, who was announced at Holmes’ successor.

Commenting on the appointments, Dale Gibson, interim CEO, stated: “This is positive news for the PJA. Adding Pete and Paul to our team helps ensure that we can deliver for our members both commercially and strategically.”

Attenborough added: “I’m delighted to welcome Pete and Paul to the association, their experience will strengthen the organisation considerably.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Dale and the team for their tireless work and commitment during recent challenging times.”

Gareth Southgate believes England can benefit from Manchester City’s Champions League success after they beat Inter Milan in Saturday’s final.

Southgate has included five members of Pep Guardiola’s side in his squad for this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, with John Stones, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips all due to join up with the squad after enjoying their celebrations.

With City’s success coming after Declan Rice lifted the Europa Conference League with West Ham earlier in the week, Southgate said it can be good for the national team.

“It’s absolutely brilliant for all our guys who have been involved,” Southgate said in a video on England’s social media.

“To start with Declan, his first experience of lifting a trophy so… fabulous for him. You can see the emotion having been at the club for so long and what it meant to him.

“Then the boys at Manchester City have had a phenomenal season, an absolutely incredible season, and of course that’s been the Holy Grail for them to get this final trophy that they hadn’t won up until now.

“I’m delighted for all of them. It’s great to see them enjoying themselves and also it’s brilliant for us as a group.

“We’ve got so many experiences now of individual players winning big trophies, and that’s so important for our development as a team. It’s fantastic on all counts.”

Sporting worlds are set to collide at Royal Ascot when Frankie Dettori partners baseball star Alex Bregman’s No Nay Mets in the Norfolk Stakes.

Trained by American George Weaver and owned by the Houston Astros’ third baseman’s Bregman Family Racing, the son of No Nay Never booked his ticket when landing the ‘win and you’re in’ Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes by an impressive three and a half lengths at Gulfstream in May, and will now attempt to become the third US-trained winner of the Group Two Norfolk.

Joining No Nay Mets on the flight across the Atlantic will be stablemate Crimson Advocate, who was equally as impressive on the same afternoon at the Florida track.

She will head to the Queen Mary Stakes as a general 7-1 chance, with Weaver relishing the prospect of getting on the Royal Ascot scoreboard with his pair of five-furlong fliers.

“They were both sharp in victory last time and earned their shot to make this trip,” Weaver said.

“They both did really well at Gulfstream. With two-year-olds, they are so lightly-raced it is hard to tell what you are running against, but they won the right way and it was never a second thought to bring them over to Ascot if they won.

“You don’t just want to shoot for the sake of it, but both have earned their chance to run in these races at Ascot and we’re excited about it.”

Dettori, of course, is no stranger to partnering American raiders at the Royal extravaganza and will be bidding to add to the four Royal Ascot winners he has previously steered for Wesley Ward during what will be his swansong at the showpiece meeting.

It will, however, be the first time he has ridden for from Weaver during his career and the trainer is delighted to have secured the services of the 52-year-old.

“Dettori will ride the colt and John Velazquez will ride the filly,” he confirmed.

“I don’t even think I’ve had the chance to give Dettori a ride before. Even though he has been in the States, he has been more California. But the man speaks for himself. What a career he has had – and he’s still got it! He’s one of the best in the world.”

And it appears Weaver will trust the Italian to make the right calls aboard the forward-going No Nay Mets as he bids to emulate his sire’s victory from 10 years ago.

He continued: “Both of these horses have plenty of early speed. I’m not sure what that translates to over in Ascot, as I know it is straight and a little uphill.

“No Nay Mets is a handy horse and I don’t even think he needs to lead. He’s got quality. Certainly, we’ll break away from the gates and try to place him forwardly and then the rest will be down to Frankie.”

Before Dettori has been given the leg-up on No Nay Mets, fellow riding great Velazquez will get the chance to notch his fourth Royal Ascot victory in the Queen Mary.

Hall of Fame pilot Velazquez is best known at the meeting for setting hot fractions aboard raiders saddled by Ward and he can be expected to take his customary position at the head of affairs when he rides Crimson Advocate, who is a precocious daughter of Nyquist.

“She’s so quick out of the gates, I wouldn’t want to take that away from her,” continued Weaver.

“In her first race she was behind horses on the dirt and was a little green about it. She was wearing blinkers and had those on, but then took to the grass really well at Gulfstream.

“If there is another horse that is quicker than her then fine, but we intend to be forward in this race – we will not take that early gate speed away from her.”

Weaver is hoping to fare better than on his sole previous visit to Ascot in 2015 when the Velazquez-ridden Cyclogenisis was unable to back up his strong American form in the Commonwealth Cup, finishing down the field in 14th.

But that experience left a lasting impression on Kentucky-born Weaver, who has been craving a return to the Berkshire track’s summer showpiece ever since.

He continued: “In 2015, I brought over a horse that wasn’t good enough, so this time around I hope I’m bringing at least one horse that is good enough – and maybe two.

“When I was there in 2015, I thought to myself how cool it would be to win a race at Royal Ascot and come back with a horse with a little better chance to win. At the time I thought our horse had somewhat a chance but hindsight is always 20-20.

“Royal Ascot just feels a lot different to American racing as a whole. The big days are big days over here, but Royal Ascot just feels like a special place. There is such an atmosphere there and then there is the pageantry. Everyone I’ve spoken to since I went there, I’ve told them, you need to go to Royal Ascot if you get the chance.

“If you have any sort of love of horse racing and a fan of the sport, going to Royal Ascot should be definitely on your bucket list, it’s a great experience.”

Australia captain Pat Cummins is eyeing up a “legacy-defining” Ashes summer after leading his side to glory in the World Test Championship final.

Cummins’ side succeeded New Zealand as the top red-ball team on the planet as they stormed to a 209-run victory over India at the Oval, but with just five days to go before the first Test against old rivals England, he was already casting his mind towards the next big challenge.

The 30-year-old boasts a glittering CV and has now become a three-format world champion, having previously won the ODI and T20 World Cups in 2015 and 2021, but skippering his country to their first series win over England in over two decades is a prize that potentially awaits over the next six weeks.

“Whether we like it or not, Ashes series tend to define eras and teams,” he said after leading his side’s celebrations the Oval – the same ground where either he or Ben Stokes will be lifting the urn at the end of July.

“An Ashes (in England) is bloody hard to win. It’s been 20-odd years so it’s not going to be easy. If we win, that is legacy-defining stuff.

“But we’ll savour this win too. We played some awesome cricket for two years and being there at the end holding the trophy feels well deserved. Our preparation has been for six matches over here, it’s one big tour with two huge titles to play for so it’s good to tick the first one off.”

England have been spending the last few days on a team-bonding trip in Scotland, mixing the occasional practice session at St Andrews University with plenty of golf, and after five hard days in the field now is the time for Australia to let their hair down too.

They may not have long to bask in their achievement, but with temperatures hitting 30 degrees in London on Sunday, Cummins has an idea of how to make the most of it.

“I think we’ll sit around in the changing rooms for a while and then we’ll find a nice sunny English beer garden somewhere this afternoon to sit back and celebrate,” he said.

“It’s been an amazing two years and we’ve had this final in the diary for a while. It’s been something that we’ve been building up for so it’s something we’re going to savour.

“I know we’ve got a big series but we can worry about that in a couple days’ time. You only get a few of these moments in your career where you can sit back, acknowledge a pretty special achievement and this is one of these times.”

When the dust settles, Cummins will need to confront a tricky selection conundrum. He all but confirmed that Scott Boland had made himself undroppable for Edgbaston, with the seamer outstanding against India and responsible for the decisive double strike that accounted for Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja on day five.

With Josh Hazlewood now passed fit for the Ashes opener, it appears a straight shootout between him and Mitchell Starc.

“Scotty was fantastic, he’s now my favourite player,” Cummins said.

“He keeps finding another level, doesn’t he? He was just our best bowler all game. He held it together, he didn’t go for many runs and to get two big wickets in an over is just reward for how well he bowled.

“For sure, Scotty has a huge role to play in the Ashes.”

For India skipper Rohit Sharma, there was disappointment. He had set his sights on going one better after India’s defeat to New Zealand in the inaugural final two years ago, and leading his country to their first global title since 2013.

He suggested a full series rather than a one-off match should be considered to crown the next champions, though the international fixture calendar is unlikely to allow for that in its present form.

“I would love that, but is there time?” he asked.

“In a big event like this, you need to have fair opportunities for both teams. A three-match series would be nice but it’s about finding a window.

“You work hard for two years and have only one shot at it. Test cricket is all about finding a rhythm and momentum.”

Iga Swiatek could end her French Open career with a record to rival Rafael Nadal’s, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo believes.

The Pole cemented her status as one of the best women’s players on clay in recent decades by winning her third title in four years just after her 22nd birthday.

That matches the career progression of Nadal almost to the day, although Swiatek has one US Open title while the Spaniard won on his first four visits to Roland Garros.

“Her record is very impressive, just like Rafa’s record was when he started,” said former world number one Mauresmo.

“Three titles in four editions is huge, it’s very impressive. I think we’re still a little bit far away from the 14 titles but, when Rafa started, no-one also thought he would get to 14 so anything can happen.”

Swiatek found herself really tested for the first time in a grand slam final, twice coming from a break down in the deciding set to beat Karolina Muchova 6-2 5-7 6-4.

She is not looking too far ahead, saying: “I’m just happy with what happened during these past few weeks. I don’t know what I’m capable of.

“So I will work day by day to play the best game possible and to develop as a player. I’m not setting any crazy records or goals for myself. I know that keeping it cool is the best way to do it for me. I’m trying more to do that.”

Swiatek has not had things all her own way this season, with a couple of injuries disrupting her schedule, while Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have raised their game to create what has been described as a big three of women’s tennis.

Sabalenka could have overtaken Swiatek in the rankings in Paris, and the Belarusian will have high hopes of doing so on the grass, where she has been much stronger than her rival in the past.

Swiatek did not shy away from talking herself up in comparison to Sabalenka and Rybakina, saying: “I look at my clay-court season and I see on every tournament I really played consistently.

“I reached quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals, I won Stuttgart, I won this tournament. I’m just focused on myself and I don’t care about the other two players.”

For Muchova, it was a bitter-sweet experience, with the Czech handling herself extremely well in her first grand slam final but falling short when the match looked like it was almost in her grasp.

What will give a lot of confidence to the 26-year-old, who will be ranked at a career-high 16 on Monday, is that clay is her least favourite surface.

“I wouldn’t expect it that much on the clay, honestly,” she said. “I look forward to playing on the grass, on the fast surfaces. It’s just nice to know that I can play on the clay great as well.

“This was my last clay tournament. It could have ended up a little bit better, but it was still pretty great.”

It was one of the best endings to a women’s grand slam in recent years, with both semi-finals bringing high quality and drama before a very good final.

There has been a lot of focus again in Paris on the scheduling, with the one-match night session featuring women only once for the second year in a row.

Mauresmo defended the decision-making, insisting other slots considered prime time featured more women’s matches this year.

Organisers do not want matches finishing in the early hours of the morning like they routinely do at the Australian Open and US Open, and Mauresmo admitted the possibility of a quick two-set women’s contest is a key factor in favouring men.

Swiatek, meanwhile, revealed she prefers playing in the day and had requested not to play at night.

“This doesn’t make also our life easier,” said Mauresmo. “I’m comfortable with the scheduling in the day but, yes, we can do better on the night matches.”

Pearls And Rubies will head to Royal Ascot as an exciting proposition for Aidan O’Brien following a very promising debut success at Navan.

An imposing daughter of No Nay Never, Ryan Moore let her find her feet in the five-furlong Lynn Lodge Stud Irish EBF Maiden, as up front Lightening Army took them along.

Keeping close tabs on the leaders was 6-5 favourite I Am Invictus, who looked like getting his head in front when leading over a furlong out, having filled the runner-up spot behind O’Brien’s Coventry Stakes-bound River Tiber first time out.

But Pearls And Rubies (3-1) started to find top gear late in the day, coming home really well to get the verdict by a neck from Michael O’Callaghan’s charge.

O’Brien said: “We thought she was very smart, we had it in our head could she be an Ascot filly.

“Obviously, she needed experience badly. We came here to see if she would be forward enough for Ascot. Ryan rode her accordingly and left her alone and educated her. She could be an Albany filly.

“She has won there and doesn’t even realise she has raced yet. She just kept coming and finished off very strong.

“She’s obviously a filly with plenty of class.”

Yanina Wickmayer came out on top after a three-set battle with Katie Swan to win the Lexus Surbiton Trophy.

Wickmayer prevented Swan from securing the British number one spot after coming back from a set down to win 2-6 6-4 7-6 (1) weeks before both players head to Wimbledon.

The pair were not deterred by the Surbiton heat as they battled at a high intensity with lengthy exchanges which resulted in Swan taking a 4-2 lead in the first set.

And Swan’s serve proved to be a decisive weapon early on as Wickmayer struggled to deal with the 24-year-old’s precision which allowed her to be on the front foot in exchanges before she closed out the first set 6-2.

But Wickmayer began to find her feet in the second set as she jostled into a 5-4 lead, with Swan finally beginning to falter at the hands of the 33-year-old.

And the Belgian made no mistake in drawing level after she forced errors out of eighth seed Swan to close out the second set 6-4.

Wickmayer really began to show her class in the final set with some moments of excellence which left her opponent with no answers.

This came in the form of her returns, with her decision to choose placement over power proving to be a masterstroke as she firmed her grip on the tie late on.

Swan managed to take the deciding set to a tie-break but came up short after Wickmayer stormed into a 6-1 lead before she rounded off the set to be crowned champion.

In a court-side interview broadcast by the LTA, Swan said: “I feel like it was a high-level match all the way through.

“It was tough because as soon as I dropped my levels slightly she was all over me and I had to maintain that for as long as I could. It was so tough but it was really high level overall.

“She is in unbelievable shape, I don’t know how she can be that good after having a baby. I think it’s incredible what she’s doing.”

Former England international Anya Shrubsole announced she will retire from playing at the end of the season after helping Southern Vipers beat The Blaze by seven wickets to lift the Charlotte Edwards Cup for the second year in a row.

The Vipers player-coach, a World Cup winner in 2017, was named player of the match after taking two for 24, having removed both of the The Blaze’s openers before bad weather stopped play on Saturday night.

A half-century from Danni Wyatt helped wrap up a comprehensive victory on Sunday, and it marked a turning point for Shrubsole, who said afterwards it was her last game for the Vipers as she will retire from playing after The Hundred.

“It’s hard to put an exact date on when I made the decision,” the 31-year-old said. “Through the course of this tournament it just became clear to me that my time was up.

“I carried on playing because I really enjoy playing, but I guess the pain element of it – if I’m being totally honest – made it not particularly enjoyable at times, so in lots of ways it was a pretty easy decision to call it a day at the end of this year.

“I told my team-mates on Friday night. I didn’t see it playing out like this, I told the girls because I wanted them to know but I didn’t think they’d make it really obvious.

“I feel very lucky to have played the last few seasons with this group, because they’re an exceptional team and an exceptional bunch of people.”

Shrubsole retired from international cricket last year, but has continued to play for Berkshire, the Vipers and Southern Brave.

She came through the ranks at Somerset and earned her first England call up as a teenager in 2008, going on to eight Tests, 86 ODIs and 79 T20 matches.

Desert Crown will miss the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, Sir Michael Stoute has confirmed.

Last year’s Derby winner was on course for a clash with Adayar, Luxembourg and stablemate Bay Bridge in the 10-furlong Group One contest on June 21, having produced a scintillating piece of work under Ryan Moore on Wednesday.

However, after a routine canter under Ted Durcan on Saturday morning, he was found to be lame.

A market drifter on the exchanges on Sunday morning, asked if all was well with the colt, Stoute told the PA news agency: “No. He’s not running, no. He’s a non-runner.”

Desert Crown cruised to success in the premier Classic, but picked up an ankle injury and was not seen again until reappearing in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown last month.

Though he looked better than ever beforehand, he was defeated in the dying strides by last season’s Coronation Cup winner Hukum, who was similarly coming back after a year on the sidelines.

Frankie Dettori was booked to ride the son of Nathaniel at Royal Ascot, replacing Richard Kingscote, but Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owner Saeed Suhail, added: “I knew they weren’t happy with him yesterday morning.

“He worked well on Wednesday. He doesn’t usually work like a rocket. His general work practice is to go steady early and to quicken.

“I didn’t see him yesterday. He worked nicely and I believe it was on his own. His final gallop was going to be next Tuesday or Wednesday with Dettori on him.

“I thought he won’t be doing too much. That was at 10 o’clock in the morning. At 12 o’clock, I heard he was a bit lame.

“They were having a good look at him. Injuries so close this time to the race mean you don’t take chances.”

Manuel Akanji claimed John Stones played like Diego Maradona after Manchester City won the Champions League and completed the treble.

Stones was a key figure as City capped a memorable season with a hard-fought but glorious 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in Saturday’s European showcase final in Istanbul.

The England international has enjoyed a fine end to the season having been deployed in a new roving role by manager Pep Guardiola.

The centre-back retains his usual defensive duties when City are on the back foot but, given their tendency to dominate possession, he now has licence to step into midfield and dictate play more.

Defender Akanji said: “The way he dribbled, he played like Maradona. He just took the ball, went past three people, passed it somewhere else.

“He created a lot of opportunities for us. He is an unbelievable player.”

After retaining the Premier League and winning the FA Cup, along with some stunning Champions League wins over Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, City had been strong favourites at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

Yet with Inter proving dogged opposition, City were unable to produce their sparkling best and it took a 68th-minute strike from Rodri for them to break through.

They also had to survive a couple of scares as Inter chased an equaliser and Akjani was just pleased to complete the job.

The Switzerland player said: “It wasn’t easy for us. It was a final and it’s been such a long season.

“You’re feeling tired but you try one last time to give it your all.

“It didn’t really work the way we planned it in the first half. I think we came out better in the second half and we scored a goal.

“Inter obviously had to do something and they had a couple of chances but we defended well as a team together and I’m just really happy that we won.”

Akanji admitted it could take some time for the magnitude of the achievement to sink in.

The 27-year-old, who has proved a shrewd signing since his deadline day arrival from Borussia Dortmund last summer, said: “We won the treble this year and that’s all that matters, but I am still trying to realise it. Day by day it will get better.”

Kevin Philippart De Foy is happy to roll the dice with El Habeeb in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

The four-year-old ran with credit in both the Derby – when only once-raced at the time with Stan Moore – and the St Leger last season, and proved his class when beating subsequent Yorkshire Cup winner Giavellotto in the Listed Noel Murless Stakes.

De Foy has stepped his charge up to two miles this term, a move which saw him finish fifth in the Dubai Gold Cup before placing third in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes.

The Sagaro winner, Andrew Balding’s Coltrane, is the 3-1 favourite for the Gold Cup, with El Habeeb a best-priced 25-1 shot despite having only five lengths to find.

Philippart De Foy feels his colt merits his place in the field for the two-and-a-half-mile showpiece.

He said: “At the moment that (Gold Cup) is the plan. He ran well in the Sagaro. He’s fairly well one paced and doesn’t have that change of gear he needed at Ascot to go and pick up the second.

“The winner was quite impressive and he deserves to be the favourite, but I thought we were a little bit unlucky on the inside and I think we deserve to be there.

“He settles very well at any pace and he always stays on in his races. He wouldn’t have the biggest stride, but he keeps galloping all day, so I don’t think the distance will be an issue.

“The form of his last few races stacks up well. He’s got plenty to find to be competitive, but I think he will be competitive for a place.”