While signaling their interest to head back to the negotiation table, Patrick Smellie, president of the United Racehorse Trainers Association of Jamaica (URTAJ), chided local promoting company Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) for being unreasonable in blocking the race course which thwarted trainers from exercising their horses on Wednesday.

Smellie believes the move allegedly by SVREL to place two trucks across the track was their way of showing their discontent after stakeholders in the local horse racing sector rejected a $27-million purse increase offered on Tuesday.

By virtue of that rejection, owners, breeders, jockeys, trainers, and grooms withheld nomination of their horses for racing which resulted in the planned Saturday-Sunday race meets being cancelled.

"That (blocking the track) was totally unreasonable, unconscionable and possibly illegal. We had a meeting this morning while we were here and they came and removed the trucks and are now wetting the surface again which is a good sign that there is a possibility that we may be able to meet at the table again,” Smellie said.

Still, he pointed out that missing exercise could have an effect on the horses.

“It can affect the horse badly because this is not best practices for the animals anywhere in the world and we have spoken with our veterinarians here and they have agreed with us in total that this is not best practice at all. But we are glad that good sense has prevailed, they have removed the truck, and they are wetting and raking the track, so I assume the track will be reopened for exercise tomorrow (Thursday),” Smellie shared.

Smellie and other stakeholders based their rejection of the $27 million purse increase as unacceptable, arguing that SVREL has seen profits of $6.2 billion, but only want to distribute $5.3 billion.

According to Smellie, based on a deed signed by horsemen with SVREL from last year, they are supposed to receive 49 per cent of Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). This means that after sales and payout, horsemen are entitled to 49 per cent of what is left and SVREL would keep 51 per cent.

As such, he explained that of the $6.2 billion SVREL makes in sales, according to the regulatory agency, the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), horsemen’s percentage would work out to $168 million and not the $27 million being offered.

On that note, the URTAJ president is awaiting word from the promoting company, inviting stakeholders back into negotiations to rectify the issue.

“They are supposed to call us today (Wednesday) or tomorrow (Thursday). Everybody knows we don't agree with their $5.3 billion because we are sticking to the $6.2 billion that the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission have gotten paid from them on their taxes.

“We are open to having dialogue, but our trainers will not be relenting. We are tired of this now, and when you see 120 trainers say no more, along with owners and grooms, then you know that everybody is united to the cause,” Smellie reasoned.

Meanwhile, SVREL in a release on Wednesday, said it is open for dialogue and stands ready to work with owners to have the earliest resumption of live racing.

“Since assuming oversight of Caymanas Park, SVREL, has made significant investments and undertaken extensive measures to improve the racing product and to develop a sustainable industry. Last year, in one such effort to improve the sustainability and stability of the industry, SVREL and key industry owners and trainers arrived at a milestone agreement whereby purses will be 49% of gross game revenue (GGR) on live racing,” the release explained.

“SVREL’s hope was, and still remains, that this GGR agreement will bring a measure of stability to the industry and so it is reiterating its readiness to continue discussions with the owners and trainers and other relevant stakeholders with a view to resolve the issue expeditiously. The company is steadfast in its commitment to horseracing and will continue to invest in the future of the industry,” it stated.

Zarinsk made every yard of the running to take home the spoils in the Darley Irish EBF Brownstown Stakes at Fairyhouse.

Trained by Ger Lyons, Zarinsk won a Listed race as a juvenile last term and had already bagged a Leopardstown Group Three over a mile back in May.

Carrying a 3lb penalty for that success, Zarinsk was sent off an 85-40 chance in the hands of Colin Keane as she tried to bounce back from a Group Two defeat in France last month.

The three-year-old smartly away for Keane, establishing an early lead which she maintained all the way to the line to secure Group Three gold over seven furlongs.

Cigamia came home second, beaten two and a half lengths, with 6-5 favourite American Sonja a further length and a quarter back in third.

Lyons, who was winning the race for the fifth time since 2010, said: “She’s a queen and seven furlongs around a bend is made for her. She’s honest out and is holding the yard together this year.

“She holds an entry in the Matron Stakes and it’s all about black type for (owner) Juddmonte. I’m delighted for them and their support.

“She’s not really ground dependent but doesn’t want extremes. She doesn’t want heavy and she doesn’t want firm.

“She’s very straight forward, as you could see there. If you wanted to make a race for her, that was it.”

Adayar returns to his “ideal trip” in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday.

The bay son of Frankel, who won both the Derby and King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2021, was last seen coming home third behind surprise winner Mostahdaf in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Trainer Charlie Appleby had hoped to get a Group One win over 10 furlongs on Adayar’s CV, but he returns to a mile and a half and drops back to Group Two company at Newmarket.

William Buick will team up with the five-year-old again in a race that has drawn a field of four, including stablemate Global Storm, with the rider confident a longer distance will play to his strengths.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing him back again,” Buick told Sky Sports Racing.

“He’s running over his ideal trip, a mile and a half, hopefully we can use that as a stepping stone for future targets.

“He still finished third (at Ascot), he was a bit slow away and there were a few things in the race that possibly didn’t quite suit. There’s plenty left there.”

John and Thady Gosden are hoping that rain arrives in time for Israr to show his best.

The Shadwell-owned colt has been beaten on both outings this term, having been short-headed by Haskoy in the Aston Park at Newbury and then when Quickthorn had his measure upped to a mile and three-quarters for the first time at York.

“Israr breezed on Saturday morning, and he will appreciate any rain that comes our way,” said John Gosden. “It is a fresh track on the first day (of the three-day meeting), but Charlie (Appleby) looks like he has got a stranglehold on the race.

“We are very pleased with him and he has run very well this year. A mile-six just stretched him last time at York, but he would appreciate to get his toe in.

“A mile and a half is his trip, but I will be having a good look at the ground. He ran very well at Newbury on his return, but he had his ground that day.

“He is one of those big horses that is coming through the ranks. He is a big, powerful horse who is improving with age when the conditions are there to suit.”

Charlie Fellowes is also doing a rain dance for Grand Alliance, who won the John Porter at Newbury before being well held by Pyledriver in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot.

“Grand Alliance has come through the race at Ascot well,” said Fellowes. “I was really hoping that Newmarket was going to get a dump-load of rain on Monday night, but they have had very little.

“The ground would be quick at the moment and he won’t run if the ground remains quick – he wants some juice in the ground.

“No one seems to have a clue what the forecast is going to do at the moment, but with all these isolated storms around, we’ve declared him, just on the off-chance something hits.

“I’m afraid he will be a very unlikely runner unless something comes out of nowhere.

“He is a good horse and beat some very good horses at Newbury earlier in the year, so we will see.

“He’s still got the King George entry, but he wants soft ground. On soft ground, he is a very good horse, but on quick ground you might as well go home.”

In the other Group Two contest on the card, nine horses are scheduled to line up in the Kingdom Of Bahrain July Stakes.

Alice Haynes hopes Maximum Impact can answer a few questions that remained after his lacklustre run at Royal Ascot.

The Amo Racing-owned Havana Grey colt went into the Windsor Castle unbeaten after two wins over five furlongs at Leicester and over course and distance.

However, equipped with a tongue-tie, the second-favourite failed to fire and finished last of the 23 runners behind Big Evs.

Haynes feels he may have been over-awed by the experience and said: “He had been running in four or five-runner fields and he got surrounded by 22 others.

“He is a little bit of a timid colt and nothing ever came to light – there was nothing wrong with him, so we go again on Thursday.

“He had been working in a tongue tie and I just want to take everything off him this time and get his confidence back.”

Norfolk Stakes runner-up Malc goes up to six furlongs for the first time.

An easy Carlisle winner on his debut for Richard Fahey, the Calyx colt found only Valiant Force too good At Royal Ascot.

Fahey said: “We were delighted with him at Ascot. We’ve been happy with him since he’s come home and I should imagine six (furlongs) would suit him.

“He was 66-1 at Ascot, but we fancied him, as he had been working well before Ascot, so it wasn’t a big surprise.

“I think this will suit him better than five now, so fingers crossed.”

David Menuisier will keep the Goodwood door ajar for Heartache Tonight, although the talented filly is more likely to run in France next month.

The Pulborough-based trainer has left the daughter of Recorder in the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes, although as she builds up to a possible Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe tilt, the three-year-old is being primed for a return to action at Deauville.

Owned by Chris Wright and Andy MacDonald, Heartache Tonight was a close-up fourth to Jannah Rose in the Group One Prix-Saint Alary at ParisLongchamp in May, before finishing sixth to Soul Sister in the Oaks.

Menuisier stated that he would then give her a summer break and look towards the autumn, but she was handed a surprise entry for a possible step up to a mile and three-quarters for the Group Two Lillie Langtry on August 5.

However, Menuisier insists it is only a speculative option and said: “We put her in the race just to have a look at it, but without any real interest at the moment.

“It wouldn’t be a target as such. Unless circumstances turn really favourable, it wouldn’t really be on the radar. We have kept her in to have a look, but we’ve no real interest.

“The circumstances would be softer ground and if the field was absolutely shattered and then you wouldn’t have to maybe think about it.

“It goes without staying she should stay, there is a lot of prize money and it would be an interesting race to win. That’s why we have kept her in.”

Heartache Tonight also holds an entry in the Yorkshire Oaks later next month, but the trainer is favouring a Group Three contest over an extended mile and a half for her return.

Menuisier added: “The main target would be to come back in the Prix Minerve at Deauville on August 13.”

Nostrum will make a belated three-year-old debut at Newmarket on Thursday after recovering from a setback that scuppered his Classic hopes.

Unbeaten in his first two starts as a juvenile, including when impressing in the Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket in September, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Nostrum was last seen finishing third to fellow Juddmonte runner Chaldean in the Dewhurst Stakes.

Those performances saw Nostrum priced as short as 8-1 for the 2000 Guineas, but the son of Kingman missed out on an early-season return to the Rowley Mile and was similarly ruled out of appearing in the French and Irish equivalents.

He will be a warm order as he lines up against five rivals in a strong renewal of the Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes.

“He’s in good shape and has been ready there for the past few weeks,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte.

“This is the first opportunity to start him back. He seems in good shape and Michael and his team, and Ryan (Moore) all seem very happy with his work and we’re excited to get him back on track.

“He’s still full of promise and his work at home has been good so hopefully, touch wood, we have a clear run for the rest of the season.”

The Shadwell-owned Mostabshir has run three times this season, latterly when almost eight lengths adrift of subsequent Eclipse hero Paddington in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Winner of a Kempton all-weather novice on his sole juvenile outing, Jim Crowley’s mount started his Classic season with a fifth-placed effort in the Craven Stakes, before winning a novice by five lengths under William Buick at York.

Angus Gold, Shadwell’s long-time racing manager, is hopeful the John and Thady Gosden-trained son of Dark Angel will find his optimum level.

“We aimed high early in the year and came back and won very well at York,” said Gold. “He ran fine in the St James’s Palace. We dropped him straight into Group One company and it was always going to be a big ask.

“It will be good to get him back into this sort of company, albeit there are some very good horses and potentially very good horses in there.

“We just need to get on with him. It has been a bit stop-start with him in terms of dropping him straight in the deep end, didn’t work, came back won very well, then back in the deep end. We just need to just find his level.

“This is Listed level and this should be very interesting. It’s a potentially a very high-class race, so it will be very interesting to see how he gets on against them.”

Roger Varian saddles both unbeaten Embesto and New Endeavour, who bids to go one better than when touched off narrowly by Docklands in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot.

In an intriguing affair, Charlie Appleby runs similarly unbeaten Imperial Emperor, who won a maiden on the Rowley Mile in October and followed up on his return on the July course in a novice over this mile course and distance 19 days ago.

The field is completed by Wildfell, who goes up in class and seeks a fifth successive victory for Peter Chapple-Hyam.

Connections of Passenger will bide their time before making any plans for the colt, who is back in work following a break.

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute and owned by the Niarchos family, the three-year-old son of Ulysses flashed plenty of ability in three runs this term.

A late developer, he saw the racecourse for the first time in April and powered to a three-length victory in the Wood Ditton, a maiden over mile at Newmarket.

Withdrawn from the Dee Stakes at Chester due to soft ground, connections paid £14,000 to supplement the colt into the Group Two Dante at York.

Though keen early in the extended 10-furlong contest, he finished an unlucky-in-running third to The Foxes, beaten a length and a half.

Supplemented for the Betfred Derby at a cost of £85,000 just days before the Epsom Classic and bidding to give the trainer and jockey Richard Kingscote a second successive victory in the blue riband after Desert Crown last June, he was keen again and did not see out the mile-and-a-half trip, eventually finishing 12th of the 14 runners.

Alan Cooper, racing manager to the Niarchos family, said he is likely to revert back to 10 furlongs for the time being.

He said: “Passenger is very well and has come back into work after his race in the Derby, and Sir Michael will make a programme in due course.

“He said that he is now back in work and is very happy with him.

“I think the targets will be clarified when he is ready to run, but I think they are more likely to be over 10 furlongs than 12 furlongs.

“It is way too early to speculate (on any targets). He is a lovely horse and we will give him all the time to mature and then go from there. Good ground is what he would want. He wouldn’t want heavy ground.

“He had three races in quick succession, so the decision was taken to give him a bit more time.”

A decision on who rides Pertemps Network July Cup favourite Shaquille is unlikely to be made until minutes before declaration time on Thursday morning.

With former champion jockey Oisin Murphy, who partnered him to a remarkable success in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, suspended, James Doyle, who rode him to win his two previous races, had been next in the frame.

However, Doyle is required at Ascot by his principal employer Godolphin so a rider has yet to be confirmed, but it will come as no surprise that trainer Julie Camacho and her husband and assistant Steve Brown have been inundated with offers.

“There has been lots of interest from people interested in riding him,” said Brown.

“We are obviously waiting to see who is available. Oisin (Murphy) wasn’t booked until 9.50am on Thursday when he won on him at Royal Ascot and Martin (Hughes, co-owner and breeder) is quite relaxed about waiting until Thursday morning and seeing who is available.”

One man who may be free is Ryan Moore, with the participation of his intended mount Little Big Bear described as only 50-50 by Aidan O’Brien on Monday.

“Martin used to have horses based in the south in the past and has dealt with a lot of jockeys, so he said we’ll have a conversation on Thursday morning after we have seen who has been declared,” said Brown.

“James is going to Ascot to ride for Godolphin, we do know that, which is a shame for us because it made things incredibly easy.

“It has always been a bit of a topic of conversation with this horse as he has run seven times and had four different jockeys, but the guys have managed superbly well and hopefully it will be the same on Saturday.”

When it was put to Brown that Moore may be available, he said: “It’s a possibility isn’t it, but we need to let their situation finalise before that discussion can take place. We’re aware that may be a possibility.”

Shaquille’s remarkable win at Ascot, when he gave away at least five lengths by fly-jumping out of the stalls, was a first Group One success for Camacho and Brown and they have been surprised by the level of goodwill which has come their way since.

Brown said: “It’s a great feeling. Jules was saying yesterday when we were coming down to Newmarket how many good wishes we’ve had since Royal Ascot and how pleased people are for us, as we are small to medium-sized training operation. People have been so kind and that’s been such a nice surprise.

“We are looking forward to Saturday. It will be a different sort of pressure as it looks like we are going to start favourite, whereas at Ascot Little Big Bear was a short-priced favourite and we went there slightly under the radar.

“So it’s different from that perspective, but you’ve got to deal with it and what a lovely position to be and what a great position to be in – to have a favourite for a Group One race.”

Jockey Dane O’Neill is expected to make a full recovery despite sustaining fractured vertebrae and ribs in a fall at Wolverhampton on Tuesday.

The veteran rider was taken to hospital after a fall from Eagle Eyed Tom in the opening race.

The gelding, trained by Charlie Hills, appeared to stumble and clip heels when leaving the stalls in the Sky Sports Racing Sky 415 Handicap, unseating him.

The race was abruptly stopped and voided, while O’Neill was attended to by paramedics on the track before being stretchered off and taken to hospital.

An update on the Facebook account of O’Neill’s wife Laura, read: “Following his fall at Wolverhampton, Dane was treated on the track before being transported by the racecourse ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

“He had a prompt assessment including scans where a fractured thoracic vertebra and some fractured ribs were discovered.

“Dane is likely to have surgery in the next few days and the expectation is he will make a full recovery after a period of rehabilitation.”

The post added: “Dane and his wife Laura would like to thank the medical staff for their care and are grateful for all the best wishes received from his friends and colleagues in racing.”

O’Neill is a key member of the Shadwell operation and racing manager Angus Gold was relieved about the prognosis.

He said: “That’s fantastic. That’s the only important bit – that he makes a full recovery.

“From our point of view, you hate to see that happen to anybody, but from a Shadwell perspective, he is a huge part of our operation.

“We are certainly going to notice his absence very strongly, but all that matters is that he gets better.

“We just wish him the speediest of recoveries and hope they operate soon, and get him back on track.

“As long as he’s all right, that’s all we care about – and we can’t wait to get him back as soon as he is mended.”

O’Neill has ridden 23 winners in Britain so far in 2023 and landed two Group One races at Meydan earlier this year, including Danyah in the Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night.

“He is a massive part of the operation, not just on the racecourse, but he rides a lot of work, all around Lambourn for us in particular, and is hugely helpful to all of us,” Gold added.

“He has a good relationship with (head of Shadwell) Sheikha Hissa, and obviously she is very concerned about him. Hopefully, it will all go smoothly for him and we all send him our best wishes.”

George Boughey will walk the track before deciding whether to let Via Sistina take her chance in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.

The improving five-year-old broke her Group One duck last time out over 10 furlongs in the Pretty Polly at the Curragh.

She is due to drop back down to a mile on the July course but Boughey says there must be enough ease in the ground to enable her to show her best.

“We will work as if she is running but she needs the rain for her to run,” he said.

“The Falmouth has always been a plan for her as she does look very good on a straight track, but softer ground is key to her.

“There are lots of times she could run where she will get soft ground and we are not going to do anything that is not in the best interests of the horse.

“If it did rain, she will be very competitive. We will walk the track and if it is the same as Ireland last time I imagine she will take her chance, but if it is any faster she won’t.

“For her pedigree, if she was to win a Falmouth she would be pretty sexy.”

Via Sistina is one of nine declared for the one-mile Group One that headlines Friday’s action, with a stellar cast lining up on the July course.

Defending champion Prosperous Voyage is one of two for Ralph Beckett and is joined by Royal Ascot runner-up Remarquee, with the Coronation Stakes second making her first outing for new owners Wathnan Racing.

John and Thady Gosden are also double-handed as they saddle not only last year’s Prix de Diane winner Nashwa, but also the Juddmonte-owned Coppice.

The Sandringham scorer was partnered by Frankie Dettori when triumphing at the Royal meeting, but with the Italian serving a ban picked up at the summer’s big week, Tom Marquand picks up a rare Clarehaven ride and deputises aboard the progressive three-year-old.

Ed Walker’s Random Harvest is another to bring smart Royal Ascot form to the table, while Roger Varian’s Ameynah was last seen finishing sixth in last year’s 1000 Guineas and returns from 439-days off the track.

Pam Sly’s Astral Beau and Aidan O’Brien’s Never Ending Story complete the field.

German 1000 Guineas runner-up Stenton Glider could be on her travels again later this year as Hugo Palmer plots a course for America with the talented filly.

The three-year-old has thrice finished runner-up in four starts this term, taking the silver medal in the Fred Darling at Newbury and again in Dusseldorf, before achieving another second-place effort when collared late on by Mystic Pearl in Saturday’s Coral Distaff at Sandown.

She was also unplaced behind Mawj in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on her second start this term.

Palmer felt Andrea Atzeni’s mount was a little unfortunate not to add to her Chester novice win as a two-year-old on her latest run in the Listed mile contest.

He said: “She was unlucky in some regards. She fended the other two off, they softened her up, Bridestones (third) and Magical Sunset (seventh), but she is rated 10lb higher than Bridestones.

“She is a very genuine filly, she’s tough and she tries, but she is also one of those that just does enough.

“I think she was content in herself that she was just doing enough and William’s (Haggas) filly has just come wide and late, and done her without any chance to respond.

“It was difficult from that draw (10), as I don’t think Andrea could have done anything else, as if she’d had a tow into the race and been able to quicken off the heels of something, she might have gone on and been a little bit clear of them.”

Palmer has plenty of faith that the best is yet to come from the strapping daughter of Dandy Man, who will be handed entries at Ascot and Haydock.

“We will probably make an entry in the Valiant at Ascot (July 29), but we’d be more likely to go to the Dick Hern (Haydock, August 12). She is a very big filly and still filling her frame. I think she’ll be, with luck and a fair wind, a really nice four-year-old. She didn’t run until the back end last year and she is just growing and changing all the time.”

Palmer saddled Hawksmoor to finish third in the Grade One Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland in 2016 and thinks a return to the Kentucky track could be a good long-term fit for Stenton Glider.

“The priority will be to make her a stakes winner this year,” added the Cheshire handler. “I’ve always had it in the back of my mind if she could be good enough to go and warrant the trip, I’d love to take her to the QEII at Keeneland in October. I think American racing there would suit her really well.

“The priority is to make her a stakes winner now she is Listed, Group Two and Group Three placed.

“She is gorgeous and I think she will keep getting better. If she could win either the Dick Hern or the Valiant, then the Atalanta at Sandown (September 2) would be another possibility for her.”

Meanwhile Hackman, who was runner-up to the impressive Kylian in Friday’s Listed Dragon Stakes, will head to Goodwood.

Winner of a five-furlong Listed race at Chester in May, the Mehmas juvenile had little chance with the winner but has taken the race well.

Palmer said: “He is in really good order. He toughed it out to be second, but James (Doyle) has ridden him to be Listed-placed twice over that track at Sandown this year and he just said he feels like it’s a long way on him.

“So he is going to go to the Molecomb and hopefully maybe that very sharp five will play to his strengths.

“He’s not a superstar, but he is a well-above-average horse and can definitely win stakes races.”

Goodwood is also a possibility for Brad The Brief, who seems poised to miss the Group One Pertemps Network July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday in favour of the Listed Raymond & Kathleen Corbett Memorial City Plate at Chester.

“When I left him in, it looked likely there was going to be more rain, so I would say Brad The Brief is an unlikely runner in the July Cup,” said Palmer.

“But we got pretty wet up here, so I would say he’s pretty likely to run in the seven-furlong Listed race at Chester on Saturday.

“While he has never won over seven, he has always shaped like he could and if that went well, then the (Group Two) Lennox could easily be on his radar as well at Goodwood.”

Two appeals concerning the finish of the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh have both been dismissed by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.

The Group One contest produced a messy conclusion as the George Boughey-trained winner Via Sistina drifted across the track in the final furlong, impeding the placed horses in winning by two lengths under Jamie Spencer.

Ben and Sir Martyn Arbib, who own Hughie Morrison’s second-placed Stay Alert, appealed against the raceday stewards’ decision not to revise the placings, but the IHRB dismissed that claim.

Spencer was given a six-day ban for his ride, with the jockey asking the IHRB appeals panel to reconsider the severity of the suspension.

However, that was also dismissed with Spencer ruled out on July 15, 17-20 and 22.

The suspension means he misses the ride aboard Khaadem in Saturday’s July Cup, with Rob Hornby booked to ride the 80-1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes winner at Newmarket instead.

The opening race on Wolverhampton’s Tuesday card was voided after Dane O’Neill took a fall from Eagle Eyed Tom.

The gelding, who is trained by Charlie Hills, seemed to stumble and clip heels when leaving the stalls for the Sky Sports Racing Sky 415 Handicap and unseated O’Neill in the first few moments of the contest.

The race was stopped abruptly before it could be completed and O’Neill was attended to on the track before reportedly being taken off on a stretcher.

Milton Harris is hatching an audacious plan to get Scriptwriter rated highly enough for a tilt at the Melbourne Cup.

The two-mile ‘race that stops a nation’, which will be run at Flemington on November 7, is the richest handicap run anywhere in the world and was worth over £2.5million to connections of Gold Trip, who won it last year.

There there is always fierce competition for a place in the line-up which has a maximum of 24 runners.

But Warminster handler Harris is hopeful the former Aidan O’Brien-trained gelding will show his ability throughout the summer on the Flat, starting with Saturday’s Group Three John Smith’s Silver Cup Stakes at York.

“He’s a Group horse, we’ve always thought that,” said Harris. “I’m going to tempt fate. He’s going to run on Saturday at York, I think. The main target has always been the Ebor at York.”

The Ebor victor will be given an automatic entry for the Melbourne Cup, with the York contest the only international win-and-you-are-in race.

Scriptwriter proved himself among the top young hurdlers last season, winning the Grade Two Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham in November.

He also landed a decent all-weather handicap on the Flat at Wolverhampton before being touched off in the Finesse Hurdle back at Cheltenham.

Scriptwriter was seventh to runaway winner Vauban in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot on his return to action last month and while his official Flat rating is 103, he will need to improve if he is to have a chance of going to Australia.

Harris added: “I thought he ran well at Ascot from a bad draw, but just couldn’t win.

“So we are going to York on Saturday and then hopefully the Ebor. If those two races go well, we might have a go at the Melbourne Cup – if you don’t dream, you’ll never have one come to fruition, will you?”

Royal Ascot scorer Porta Fortuna could be tasked with taking on the colts following her impressive triumph at the summer showpiece last month.

The daughter of Caravaggio provided Frankie Dettori with his 80th winner at the Royal meeting when storming to Albany Stakes success and the form of that victory was given an immediate boost when the runner-up Matrika won the Group Two Airlie Stud Stakes only eight days later.

Having now struck twice at Group Three level in her three appearances to date, trainer Donnacha O’Brien is keen to keep his unbeaten filly at six furlongs for the time being and she could get the chance to showcase her talent in Group One company if lining up in the Curragh’s Keeneland Phoenix Stakes on August 12.

O’Brien said: “She’s very good and has come out of the race well. We gave her an easy week after the race to freshen her up and she’s back in full work now and everything is going well.

“She’s very straightforward and I suppose she’s a dream filly to ride as she has plenty of pace, travels well, has a turn of foot and also keeps going at the end as well. She’s just a very smart filly.

“We’re thinking of going for the Phoenix at the minute, the Group One at the Curragh. We’ll have to take on colts, but we’d like to give her another run at six. We’ll put her in the Lowther (York, August 24) as well as a back-up, that’s about a week or two afterwards.”

Connections then hope all roads will lead to the Breeders’ Cup, where Porta Fortuna’s American owners will have the opportunity to cheer on their filly in their own backyard.

“I suppose later on in the year the targets will be races like the Cheveley Park (Newmarket, September 30) and the Breeders’ Cup,” added O’Brien.

“We’ve got a few more runs to go before we get there so I’m sure we’ll learn a bit more about her by the time, but the obvious one would be the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (Santa Anita, November 3) unless for some reason we thought we would go back in trip to the (Juvenile Turf) Sprint.

“The Breeders’ Cup was always the main aim for her at the end of the year, but she’s got a few races to go first and we’ll take each one at a time.”

Porta Fortuna is not the only filly at O’Brien’s Tipperary base with the potential to become a high-ranking two-year-old and the handler also has lofty ambitions for the Niarchos family-owned Mysteries who opened her account in good style at Cork.

“She’s a lovely filly and one we’ve always thought plenty of,” continued the Group One-winning trainer.

“The plan at the minute is to go for the Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown (July 27) and then for a seven-furlong filly there’s a very obvious programme, so it will be there, the Debutante (August 19) and the Moyglare (September 10), all being well.”

Meanwhile, one-time Derby hope Alder is on the comeback trail from the setback which ruled him out of Classic action and could return at Dundalk in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Diamond Stakes on September 29 before getting his passport stamped at the back-end of the year.

“He’s good and we gave him a bit of a break but he’s back in work now,” said O’Brien.

“I’m provisionally aiming him at a Listed race in Dundalk in September and then all being well, we could potentially go travelling with him after that.”

Oaks winner Soul Sister has been supplemented for Friday’s Grand Prix de Paris by John and Thady Gosden, with Kieran Shoemark deputising for the suspended Frankie Dettori.

Shoemark partnered the Lady Bamford-owned filly in a recent piece of work on Newmarket’s July course, although Dettori has ridden the daughter of Frankel in all three of her starts this season, with Robert Havlin in the saddle when she won her sole outing as a juvenile.

She gave Dettori a seventh Oaks and his 23rd British Classic success when beating Savethelastdance by a length and three-quarters at Epsom.

However, with the 52-year-old Italian having picked up a whip ban at Royal Ascot, Shoemark comes in for the ride on the filly, who is the sole British-trained runner in a field of eight for the Group One prize at ParisLongchamp.

Soul Sister bounced back from defeat on soft ground in the Fred Darling on her three-year-old debut at Newbury to land the Group Three Musidora at York.

She is the only Group One winner in the line-up, with connections happy to pay the €15,000 supplementary fee.

Thady Gosden said: “Obviously it is the last mile-and-a-half three-year-old race in Europe and unlike the Irish Oaks, it gives you time to come back for the Nassau at Goodwood.

“The Irish Oaks is a little too close to Goodwood if you wanted to take in both races, and we are looking forward to running her at Longchamp.

“Kieran partnered her on the Rowley Mile last week and was happy with her and she has done some routine work subsequently.”

Adelaide River and Peking Opera, respectively runner-up and fourth to Aidan O’Brien stablemate Auguste Rodin in the Irish Derby, remain in contention, while Andre Fabre, who has won the Grand Prix de Paris a record 13 times, relies on First Minister, who landed the Group Three Prix Hocquart at the same track last time.