Charlie Appleby is responsible for four of the six confirmations for the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday.

The Group Two contest is the feature event on day one of the July Festival and Appleby appears intent on securing back-to-back victories following the success of Yibir 12 months ago.

Adayar, the Derby and King George hero of 2021, has the option of returning to a mile and a half after finishing third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, while Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance could make his first appearance since disappointing in the Dubai Sheema Classic in March.

Recent Fred Archer Stakes scorer Kemari and Meydan Group Two winner Global Storm, last seen finishing second to stablemate Hurricane Lane in the Jockey Club Stakes, complete the Moulton Paddocks quartet.

John and Thady Gosden’s Israr and the Charlie Fellowes-trained Grand Alliance are the other contenders.

Royal Ascot runner-up Malc is one of 14 juveniles entered for the other Group Two on the card, the Bahrain Turf Club July Stakes.

Richard Fahey’s youngster found only Valiant Force too strong when a 66-1 shot for last month’s Norfolk Stakes and looks set for a step up from five to six furlongs next week.

His Majesty is one of three possibles for Aidan O’Brien along with Edwardian and Mountain Bear.

Arrest heads 13 horses in the mix for the Bahrain Trophy, a recognised trial for the St Leger.

The Juddmonte-owned colt disappointed when favourite to provide Frankie Dettori with a dream success in his final Derby, and was again well held at the Royal meeting. Connections will be hoping for an easier surface on the July course.

Saint George is an obvious contender for Andrew Balding after finishing second in the Queen’s Vase. Circle Of Fire (Sir Michael Stoute) was fourth in the same race for the King and Queen and could also run at Newmarket.

The Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes looks an interesting contest, with the long-absent Nostrum the potential headline act.

The Kingman colt has not been seen in competitive action since finishing third in last season’s Dewhurst, with a spring setback ruling him out of the Classics.

This Listed contest appears an ideal comeback target for the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt, but he might not have things all his own way, with James Ferguson’s Jersey runner-up Zoology and Appleby’s unbeaten course and distance winner Imperial Emperor among his potential rivals.

Karl Burke is blessed with an abundance of juvenile talent this season and Kylian could well prove to be among the best of them, judging by his demolition of six rivals in the Listed Dragon Stakes at Sandown.

Settled in by Ryan Moore early in the five-furlong contest, the strapping son of Invincible Spirit, sent off the 9-4 second-favourite, floated over the fast ground and picked up the leaders with ease, drawing clear inside the final furlong to win by six lengths from Hackman, with Nazalan third.

Former jockey Philip Robinson, now assistant racing manager to owner Sheikh Hamed Dalmook Al Maktoum, said: “He’s nice, isn’t he? Ryan just thinks he’s a very nice horse, but thinks he’s been quite a slow learner.

“He’s now learning what it’s all about and said he had a good look around when he got in front, but he didn’t look around too much, did he?

“Karl has always thought he was a good horse and was very surprised when he got beaten (on debut) at York.

“He’s just probably a slow learner, who is just learning through his racing. Hopefully, he will go on to better things.

“Ryan thinks he can possibly get six furlongs, so that’s another avenue.

“He had been working with his other good ones before he ran at York, so he was quite surprised (when he was beaten). Some horses take a little while to develop on track.”

Kylian is now likely step up in grade at Goodwood, according to Robinson.

“He might go to the Molecomb, possibly,” he said. “We will sit sown and talk to the owner and Karl.

“As long as he comes out of the race OK. I don’t think it was too hard a race.”

He added: “Ryan was able to fill him up and he was going well within himself. I don’t think they went crazy. It takes some getting up the hill, but you don’t see many winning like that over five furlongs.”

The favourite, Born To Rock, who looked a good prospect when making a winning start by 12 lengths at Yarmouth on his debut a month ago, failed to fire.

His trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam said beforehand he had been laid low and had been on a course of antibiotics after his victory.

“This did not appear to be his running – he is better than that,” she said.

William Haggas is eager to test the mettle of Tiber Flow over five furlongs, with the Chipchase Stakes hero making a quick return to action in the Coral Charge at Sandown.

The four-year-old, who won the Carnarvon Stakes at Newbury last year, scooped Group Three honours for the first time when obliging favourite-backers at Gosforth Park last Saturday.

And the pace he showed in that six-furlong event in the north east was enough to convince the Somerville Lodge handler to drop his charge back to the minimum distance at the Esher track.

“I want to try him over five, he showed a lot of speed to me up at Newcastle,” said Haggas.

“I’ve never run him over five and this is the stiffest five in the country. Yes he has a penalty, but if he waited for the Hackwood Stakes he would have a penalty in that too, so I’m going to run him and see how we get on.

“He’s a very genuine, nice horse.”

Royal Ascot form is represented by Mick Appleby’s Annaf who has been at the peak of his powers this season and finished third in the King’s Stand Stakes.

He is joined in the line-up by stablemate and depending champion Raasel, who is yet to hit the heights of his three victories last term but was also far from disgraced from a less than ideal draw in the King’s Stand.

“Annaf seems in really good order and obviously Raasel won the race last year so it would be nice if he could follow it up,” said Appleby.

“They are both in great order. They both ran well at Ascot, I was really pleased with that. Anaaf’s was a great run, but Raasel ran better than where he actually finished – it was the draw that did him, he ended up on the wing and he’s a horse that needs plenty of cover.”

Equilateral (fifth) and Marshman (seventh) were others who took part in the King’s Stand and are now dropping in class, with the former hoping for a smoother passage than when suffering a luckless run in this race 12 months ago.

The 36-race veteran is one of two in the contest for Charlie Hills along with impressive Windsor handicap winner Equality, while Marshman is also joined in the line-up by a stablemate as Karl Burke will also saddle recent Scurry Stakes scorer Lady Hamana.

Another handler with two bullets to fire at the Group Three contest is Clive Cox who is represented by Get Ahead and Diligent Harry.

Get Ahead arrives on the back of a fine start to the season and having landed the Cecil Frail at Haydock on her penultimate start, was ahead of Marshman when denied by a short head in the Prix du Gros-Chene at Chantilly last month.

“Get Ahead ran a blinder in France last time and has really come to hand,” said Cox.

“She’s a filly we have always believed in and her recent runs have confirmed that promise was well worth investing in.

“We are hoping the thunderstorms don’t get involved too much from her point of view. She would be happier without that. She is in excellent form if the conditions remain suitable.

Diligent Harry drops back in distance having failed to add to his All-Weather Championships Finals Day triumph in two starts on turf since.

“It’s a nice opportunity to run over a stiff five with him,” continued Cox.

“We did have him in the Chipchase last week, but I’m happy we have an opportunity to run over five here.

“He has run on an easier surface before in the Cammidge Trophy when he was just beaten in 2022. He is in excellent form and he’s a horse who is one of our typically pleasing sprinters and we hope he’s not too badly drawn.”

Hollie Doyle will link up with Ed Walker’s Ayr Listed winner Makarova, with Stuart Williams’ Existent completing the 11-strong field.

Dylan Kitts will not takes rides or attend a racecourse while an investigation takes place into his ride on Hillsin at Worcester on Wednesday evening, the British Horseracing Authority has announced.

Kitts was aboard the Chris Honour-trained gelding in a two-and-a-half-mile conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle and moved smoothly into contention in the home straight.

But the five-year-old was ultimately beaten a length and a half into third place and following a subsequent inquiry the raceday stewards referred Kitts to the BHA, while suspending Hillsin from running for 40 days.

Kitts had reported in the inquiry his instructions were to “drop out early” and “take his time before mounting a late challenge”.

He said Hillsin “made a respiratory noise towards the end of the back straight, which continued on several more occasions throughout the race” and the gelding had also hung right-handed, which had “restricted his ability to be more vigorous in the home straight”.

Honour said on Thursday his family had been caught up in the fall-out from the incident, receiving abuse on social media, and that he had asked owner Alan Clegg to remove his horses from his yard.

In a statement on Friday, the BHA confirmed Kitts will not be in competitive action, or visit a racecourse, until the matter is resolved.

The statement read: “The BHA can confirm that it has been agreed that jockey Dylan Kitts will not take rides or attend any racecourses at this time, as an investigation following a referral by the stewards at Worcester on Wednesday July 5 continues.

“The BHA will be making no further comment on the investigation at this stage.”

Sea Silk Road will attempt to follow up her poignant victory in the Lester Piggott Stakes when she returns to Haydock for the bet365 Lancashire Oaks on Saturday.

The daughter of Sea The Stars provided trainer William Haggas with a fitting success in the race that was known as the Pinnacle Stakes but renamed in honour of one of the sport’s greatest figures and also the Somerville Lodge handler’s late father-in-law.

Having shown a liking for the course and distance, the four-year-old now gets the chance to repeat the dose and score for the first time at Group Two level.

“She did really well there last time,” said Haggas. “She won well, enjoyed the ground and she won quite nicely. I think that has done her good.

“It is probably a bit of a stronger race this time, but we will see.”

Last season Haggas saw Sea La Rosa follow the same route and have to settle for second in the Lancashire Oaks. The Newmarket handler is hoping for a different outcome this time around.

He added: “We had a filly in the same ownership last year who won the Pinnacle and then got beat in the Lancashire Oaks, but ended up winning a Group One (Prix de Royallieu) at the back-end. So I hope this filly will progress and Saturday will tell us a lot.”

Time Lock was sent off favourite when beaten three lengths in fourth behind Sea Silk Road last month and connections are eyeing a different result for Roger and Harry Charlton’s four-year-old on this occasion.

Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte, feels ground conditions were against her in that run and is hopeful of turning the tables if an on-song Time Lock turns up in Merseyside.

He said: “I was disappointed watching it, but Ryan (Moore) said afterwards the ground was very quick and she just didn’t appreciate it.

“She actually won on firm ground last year and that’s part of the reason why we went to Haydock, but Ryan felt maybe she got away with it the time before, she’s a bit older and has a few more miles on the clock and she didn’t like it.

“I think they’ve had some rain, so hopefully it’s just nice, good ground on Saturday.

“Her form is intertwined with the favourite. Last year they met each other a few times, we came out on top one day and they came out on top another day.

“If she was to run up to the best of her form you’d think she’d have a good chance. Her last run was a bit disappointing, so we have to hope she can put that behind her.”

Karl Burke’s Poptronic was third in the Lester Piggott Stakes and is another hoping to reverse course form with Sea Silk Road, while Richard Hannon’s Aristia was a Group One winner in France last season, but now steps up to 12 furlongs for just the second time following a lacklustre return in the Middleton Stakes at York.

Also sure to be in the mix is John and Thady Gosden’s Mimikyu who was a non-runner here last month but has two track victories to her name and has stamina to burn judged on her impressive Park Hill victory last term.

The Clarehaven team, along with jockey Robert Havlin, won this race with the George Strawbridge-owned Free Wind 12 months ago and Mimikyu – who also runs in the white and green silks – will bid to not only provide connections with back-to-back victories in the race, but also hand Havlin a fourth Lancashire Oaks 20 years after first striking with Place Rouge.

The jockey said: “The Lancashire Oaks always falls on the same weekend as the Eclipse. It was great when I won the race on Great Heavens as John also won the Eclipse that year with Nathaniel. Hopefully we can have another double this weekend with Mimikyu and Emily Upjohn.

“On these big Saturdays being involved with this yard you can always pick up a decent ride. I’ve been doing that for years and years and I’ll keep batting away at it.

“Mimikyu worked really well at the July course with the hood off. She has been racing with the hood on recently, including in the Bronte Cup, and I really felt an improvement with the hood off.

“She does have a 5lb penalty to carry for winning the Park Hill at Doncaster last year but hopefully she has got the class to overcome it. She is going there with a live chance.”

Tom Ward’s Luisa Casati and Roger Varian’s Peripatetic both arrive having claimed Listed contests at Goodwood in their most recent appearances, while Hughie Morrison’s One For Bobby landed the Nottinghamshire Oaks on stable debut before chasing home Al Husn and Nashwa in the Hoppings Stakes recently.

The field of nine is rounded off by Jim Goldie’s Wickywickywheels who drops back in trip having failed to feature in the Bronte Cup at York.

Should Aidan O’Brien win the Coral-Eclipse for a seventh time with Paddington on Saturday, he will have created yet another piece of Turf history.

Currently he shares the record with Alec Taylor Jnr, famed as the ‘Wizard of Manton’ due to his success in the early 20th century, and Sir Michael Stoute.

O’Brien admitted the Eclipse – a race named after the horse whose footprint on the sport is still around today with his long-distance descendants – was vitally important in his early career.

His first winner, Giant’s Causeway, is regularly brought up in discussions of O’Brien’s best horses.

It was already his fifth race of the season and his first against older horses and 10 furlongs, having just won the St James’s Palace Stakes, and O’Brien is clearly keen to take advantage of the weight-for-age concession the Classic generation receive, given four of his six winners have been three.

“The Eclipse is obviously a very prestigious race for a stallion. It’s the first time the generations really meet and everybody gets a feel of where they all are,” he said.

“The people gone before us have always got it fairly right with the weight-for-age scale. Obviously a three-year-old is not usually as mature as the older horses yet, but as the year goes on it levels up.

“The Eclipse is a very prestigious race to win, Sandown is a good track that is always very well maintained and you get a good picture of where you’re going after.”

Paddington is following a similar route to the Eclipse as Giant’s Causeway, having taken in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes before running at Sandown.

“Paddington is a three-year-old and he’s running in a lot of the races that Giant’s Causeway ran in as well, but it’s just the way it worked out,” said O’Brien.

Another three-year-old to score for Ballydoyle two years ago was St Mark’s Basilica, who was also by the same sire, Siyouni.

“Paddington is out of a Montjeu mare whereas St Mark’s was out of a Galileo mare, but they are both by Siyouni,” said O’Brien.

“Paddington can quicken, he’s a miler that can quicken but then St Mark’s did that as well.

“I think he’s only the second Siyouni we’ve had this far among the colts, we’ve a few more two-year-olds by him but they are the only others.

“We’ve won the Eclipse with some of great horses. So You Think was an unbelievable horse really, and he’s still at stud now and doing very well.

“Hawk Wing was a big powerful horse who had run in the Guineas and Derby, St Mark’s was very good and obviously Giant’s Causeway was very important to us.

“He was our first really good horse at that level and I remember George (Duffield) giving him an unbelievable ride. Pat Eddery was riding Kalanisi for Sir Michael and they were second, a great race.

“They are the days you don’t forget and they were very important days for us.”

When asked how early in the season he would identify a horse for the Eclipse, O’Brien said: “We enter them in all the big races. In Paddington’s case we were going to Goodwood (Sussex Stakes), but he was so fresh and well after Ascot, he started doing a few bits of work.

“The Eclipse is always an option. When the lads discussed it with us we said he could probably take it in with his well-being and when we spoke to Ryan (Moore) we decided to let him do it.”

Aidan O’Brien has mapped out a three-race plan for his unbeaten juvenile River Tiber.

The Wootton Bassett colt looked something out the ordinary when scoring by 10 lengths on his racecourse debut at Navan in April and doubled up at Naas the following month.

Having completed his hat-trick in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, River Tiber heads ante-post lists for next year’s Qipco 2000 Guineas and looks set to step up in trip before the season is out.

For now, though, O’Brien is happy to stick to six furlongs, with the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on August 12 next on his star two-year-old’s agenda.

“Everything is good and the plan at the moment is to go to the Heinz (Phoenix) at the Curragh,” said the Ballydoyle handler.

“He’s just having a little bit of an easy time, but that’s what we’re thinking at the moment, staying at six furlongs, and if everything went well then he could step up to seven in the National Stakes.

“If that went well, he could go on to the Dewhurst, so they are the three races that are on his programme at the moment. Obviously it can all change very quickly.”

O’Brien also provided an update on Luxembourg after connections decided against allowing him to join stablemate Paddington in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday.

He added: “He was only going to be a possible for the Eclipse if Paddington didn’t run, he is in the King George and he’ll be trained for that, I think.

“We’re looking at that for Auguste Rodin as well obviously and I would imagine if Auguste is going there Luxembourg might have to stand back again.

“We’ll wait and see, but at the moment he (Luxembourg) is on the King George programme.”

Al Kazeem may not have been owner-breeder John Deer’s first Group One winner, but there is little doubt he is the finest to graduate from his Oakgrove Stud.

He won 10 times during an intermittent 23-race career, but it is 10 years since the strapping son of Dubawi was arguably at his peak and went on an imperious winning run, collecting a trio of Group One prizes.

This Saturday marks a decade since the final act of that successful streak as having downed Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and then bravely landed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, Al Kazeem was sent off the 15-8 favourite to bring up a big-race hat-trick in the Coral-Eclipse – a mission he completed in fine style.

It was a victory that was not without the odd moment of worry as Al Kazeem hung right-handed just as a dominant charge to the line seemed inevitable. But despite the protestation he badly hampered eventual third Mukhadram, there was no denying the clear-cut nature of the two-length triumph.

“It was a brilliant year, fantastic really,” said Deer. “It was one of those times where you just can’t believe it. You breed a lot of horses and they are good, but nothing like what it takes to win a Group One. So when it happens it is very special.

“I had already won Group Ones with Patavellian and Avonbridge, so I had a flavour of it, but Al Kazeem was different, he was very special.

“He was a gorgeous looking horse who was very strong. I was pleased with the way he got on with Roger Charlton and we had some very exciting days with him.”

It is not just Deer who holds fond memories of Al Kazeem, but also Roger Charlton who trained the bay both before and after his brief interlude at stud.

The Beckhampton handler, who now trains in conjunction with his son Harry, has great memories of that 2013 season and was delighted that Al Kazeem could provide him with the Eclipse victory he always craved adding to his CV.

“He was on a roll that year wasn’t he,” said Charlton.

“It was a very rewarding effort to beat Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, then his performance at Royal Ascot in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes was good. There was a little bit of controversy in the Eclipse as to whether he interfered with Mukhadram but he battled on up the hill there.

“It was very pleasing and like most people the Eclipse was a race I always wanted to win. It’s a special race and it is normally at the time of the year where the best horses can go there if they want.”

He went on: “If I remember rightly it was always the plan to go there as long as he was OK after Ascot. He was a very tough and very sound horse and he was very suited to going right-handed rather than left-handed.

“As I remember it, he was well on top at the end and he was a pretty classy horse in those days.

“He came back from a broken pelvis to do what he did and as we all know he then went off to stud and then came back to win another Group One so he was a pretty special horse and he would rate pretty highly on my list anyway.”

A third key component of the Al Kazeem story is his big-race pilot James Doyle who partnered the son of Dubawi for all of his major moments on course.

Now one of the leading riders in the weighing room, Doyle was stable jockey to Charlton at the time and had only the one really recognisable success to his name when winning the  Dubai Duty Free aboard Cityscape.

However, Al Kazeem would soon change that and helped put Doyle firmly in the spotlight.

“Cityscape was the catalyst when he won the Dubai Duty Free in a course-record time and then it moved on to Al Kazeem,” said Charlton.

“I do slightly remember going to the Curragh with James for the Tattersalls Gold Cup where we were taking on Camelot who was nearly a Triple Crown winner.

“James ran round the course and then won on Al Kazeem and then on the way home I asked him ‘how many times have you ridden at the Curragh?’ and he said only once, as an apprentice over five furlongs. So he had never actually ridden over the trip there at that stage and it just shows how young and inexperienced he was in those days.”

Deer added: “I felt very lucky because he was such a young jockey, but lucky because he was such a good jockey. He was brilliant on the horse really and it kind of shows how lucky I was now doesn’t it, with the way he has developed and his career has progressed.”

After an unsuccessful first attempt at stud duties following the 2013 season, Al Kazeem would return to the track to add a second Tattersalls Gold Cup during his swansong season of 2015.

He now stands at Deer’s Oakgrove Stud in Wales where he is very much part of the family and his legacy lives on having provided the owner-breeder with another Royal Ascot champion in the form of Wokingham hero Saint Lawrence.

Deer said: “He was special in as much as in he coped with being a stallion and when he came back into training you got the impression he had forgotten all about it. He knew his job of racing and settled in and did beautifully.

“It’s lovely to have him back, that is really special. I sold him to the Queen and he wasn’t exactly out of my life because I did have some nominations to him, but to have him back at the stud is really special and everybody loves the horse, it’s amazing. He is a bit of a star and I watch him sometimes being taken out to his paddock and he is full of himself.”

An Animal Rising activist has been spared jail after running on to the track at the Betfred Derby a minute before the horses galloped past.

Ben Newman, 32, was filmed running on to the course at Epsom as the premier Classic began on June 3.

After pleading guilty at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday to causing public nuisance, he was criticised by the judge for “endangering” the lives of police
and security guards who managed to drag him off the track just before the horses ran past.

Newman was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years and fined a total of £1,356.

The protest happened after the Jockey Club, which owns Epsom Downs, was granted an injunction banning the Animal Rising group, which Newman was a part of, from intervening in the event.

He was produced from custody and appeared in court dressed in a grey sweatshirt.

He was one of 31 people arrested on the day of the race, including 12 on the racecourse grounds.

Footage played at court showed Newman running on to the track as police and security guards darted after him before wrestling him to the ground and dragging
him to one side.

About a minute later, the horses sprinted past, prosecutor Wendy Cottee told the court.

She said: “The Derby was due to start at 3.30pm. Horses were let out just after that.

“This defendant then ran across the track. The horses were around a minute away.

“He was apprehended and taken off the track.

“The defendant admits that the public were angry with him – several were jeering at him.”

On Wednesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman held a summit at Downing Street with police and sports bodies including the Lawn Tennis Association, the Premier
League and the England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss plans to step up security at summer sporting events.

That afternoon, Just Stop Oil protesters threw orange confetti and jigsaw pieces on to court 18 at Wimbledon, stopping play twice.

It came after members of the group invaded the pitch at Lord’s last week during the second Ashes test.

Emily Upjohn and Paddington remain on course for a mouthwatering clash at Sandown on Saturday with the pair among just four runners declared for the Coral-Eclipse.

Following a dominant success in last month’s Coronation Cup, John and Thady Gosden’s Emily Upjohn will drop back in trip under William Buick, who takes over in the saddle from the suspended Frankie Dettori.

She has already won over Sandown’s 10 furlongs, but faces a far from straightforward task on her return as she must concede 7lb to a top-class three-year-old colt in Paddington.

Aidan O’Brien’s charge is four from four this season, including a Classic triumph in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and confirmed himself the best of his generation over a mile with a brilliant victory over Newmarket Guineas winner Chaldean in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The son of Siyouni now tests the water over a mile and a quarter for the first time in a race his trainer has already won on six occasions.

With Anmaat a significant absentee, the small but select field is completed by the William Haggas-trained Dubai Honour and West Wind Blows from Simon and Ed Crisford’s yard.

Dubai Honour has enjoyed a profitable year on foreign soil, winning back-to-back Group Ones in Australia before finishing third in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong.

West Wind Blows is a dual Group Three winner and was runner-up to Hukum in the Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting last month, but will be the outsider of the quartet.

Anmaat has been ruled out of Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown due to a foot abscess.

Winner of the John Smith’s Cup last summer, the Owen Burrows-trained five-year-old went on to land the Group Three Rose of Lancaster Stakes and the Group Two Prix Dollar before being given a winter break.

He chased home Adayar on his reappearance in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket before returning to France to break his Group One duck in last month’s Prix d’Ispahan.

Connections had been looking forward to seeing him test his powers at the highest level on home soil this weekend, but he will not line up at the Esher venue.

Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell, said: “It looks like a foot abscess and we sort of hoped it was going to burst overnight, but it hasn’t and he’s just not 100 per cent sound this morning.

“It’s just a matter of timing, he’ll be fine next week hopefully. Like all of these things you can’t fight them, that’s nature’s way and he just isn’t right to run on Saturday.

“It’s a big blow to Owen and the team there and obviously Sheikha Hissa and all at Shadwell. It was going to be interesting to see him against the best mile and a quarter horses in this country and Ireland, but there’s no point making a fuss about it – those are the cards we’ve been dealt.”

Anmaat holds an entry in next month’s Juddmonte International, but Shadwell are targeting that race with Prince of Wales’s Stakes hero Mostahdaf and it seems unlikely both will head for York.

Gold added: “That (Juddmonte International) is the obvious one, except for the fact that if we’re lucky and get there in one piece we have Mostahdaf lined up for that.

“Off the top of my head we could look at something like the Irish Champion Stakes (for Anmaat), but that is obviously a while away yet (September 9).

“The Eclipse was his prime summer target, but there we go. We’re just digesting it, so we haven’t sat down with the programme book yet, but the Irish Champion would certainly be an option.”

Son Of Corballis defied odds of 25-1 to land the Coolmore Ten Sovereigns Tipperary Stakes.

The two-year-old won on his debut over course and distance in April, but he was well beaten when seventh of 10 starters in the National Stakes at Sandown last time.

That performance clearly was not a fair reflection of his ability, and under Declan McDonogh he broke quickly from the stalls and made all of the running back on home turf.

He was challenged in the closing stages of the five-furlong affair by Aidan O’Brien’s Alabama, the 11-10 favourite, and Diego Dias’ 28-1 shot Gaenari.

Those two horses finished second in a dead heat, with the winner a neck ahead on the line.

Trainer Kieran Cotter said: “If he hadn’t run in Sandown he’d have been second-favourite today.

“He didn’t travel over well to Sandown, got interfered at the start and dropped back to last.

“He was a bit sick when he came home, but we gave him plenty time to recover and knew we had him 100% today.

“He is in the Weatherbys Super Sprint with just 8st 10lb, so that is a nice pot to be heading for after here, if he isn’t sold.

“He is a good, tough horse and should have a good career ahead of him.”

Ajero could head for the John Smith’s Cup at York following his fine run when fourth in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.

Kim Bailey’s eight-year-old performed with credit at Royal Ascot for a second successive year, having finished second in the 12-furlong handicap in 2022 before being beaten by just shy of three lengths by Okita Soushi off a 7lb higher rating.

Raised a further 1lb to a figure of 97 following that run, he is now unlikely to contest the Charlton Handicap he won at Goodwood last year, opening the door for Ajero to line-up on the Knavesmire on July 15 in the fiercely-competitive £200,000 contest.

“He could be going to York for his next run in the John Smith’s Cup,” said Bailey.

“We’ve had an enormous amount of fun with him. His run at Ascot this year was off 7lb higher than last year, which for an eight-year-old is quite something really.

“Sadly we can’t get to Goodwood this year which is disappointing. He’s now 97 and it’s a 0-95. That would have been the perfect race for him which is annoying. He won it last year and it would have been nice to go back there, but we can’t take the chance he will get in because I’m sure he won’t.

“The John Smith’s Cup is a tough race and a slightly different ball game, but we love the horse, he’s a real character and just great.”

Paddy Twomey’s high-class filly Rosscarbery will not make a swift return to action in the bet365 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock on Saturday.

Having made a successful start to her campaign in the Munster Oaks at Cork, the four-year-old stepped up to Group One level for last weekend’s Pretty Polly Stakes.

The daughter of Sea The Stars was beaten five lengths into fourth place and Twomey believes she would have picked up valuable black type but for being hampered by eventual winner Via Sistina.

The Irish trainer has, though, decided against bidding for swift compensation on Merseyside, instead electing to keep his powder dry for major targets later in the summer.

“I made the entry (at Haydock) just to keep my options open. She’s entered in pretty much everything across the board,” said Twomey.

“She’s come out of the Curragh in good form. It was a pity what happened in the race as I think she’d have been in the first three with a clear passage.

“A mile and a quarter is her minimum trip – she stays a mile and a half and a mile and six. She needs everything to go right at 10 furlongs, so to get stopped in her tracks like that wasn’t ideal, but it is what it is and we move on to the next day.”

Considering future plans, he added: “We’ll see what we do, but a race like the Yorkshire Oaks would be very suitable for her – a mile and a half with a long straight.

“I think a mile and a half sees her to best effect, as she showed in Cork in the Munster Oaks.

“We’ll talk with the owners and make a plan, but the aim is to try to win a Group One if we can.”

Twomey also entered Final Gesture for the Lancashire Oaks, but confirmed she will instead be readied for next week’s Stanerra Stakes at Leopardstown.

Michael Tabor, co-owner of dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin, feels a drop down to 10 furlongs for the Juddmonte International will feature “high on the agenda” for the colt, with the Breeders’ Cup Classic also a possibility at the end of the season.

A rare son of late Japanese champion Deep Impact, Auguste Rodin gave trainer Aidan O’Brien his 100th European Classic win when Ryan Moore’s mount downed stablemate Adelaide River in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on Sunday.

Owned in partnership with John and Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith and Georg von Opel’s Westerberg racing operation, Tabor’s famous royal blue and orange disk silks had previously been carried to victory at Epsom.

To some observers, his latest length-and-a-half success was unconvincing, a view Tabor agrees with.

He said: “I do think it is fair that people say he was only workmanlike. It wasn’t the fastest pace in the world, which didn’t suit him and when he hits the front, he only just does enough.

“I think and hope you’ll see a lot better horse when he runs next, let’s put it that way.

“Only time will tell, but people are right when they look at it, they were not impressed and that was the way it was.”

Having been the first horse since Harzand in 2016 to follow up victory in the Epsom blue riband, Auguste Rodin is a general 9-4 favourite to win the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on July 29.

While the prospect of a second clash with Epsom runner-up and subsequent King Edward VII Stakes winner King Of Steel and last year’s Derby hero Desert Crown looks a mouthwatering prospect, Tabor feels the three-year-old has the speed to drop back in trip.

He added: “He could go down in trip if it presents itself, but at the moment, if you go forward, what is he going to run in? If you do go down in trip, what race would he run in?

“The Juddmonte International would obviously be on the agenda. The Breeders’ Cup Classic is a shot to nothing – that’s a tough one – but certainly the Juddmonte is high on the agenda.

“It’s a difficult call, but how long is it between the King George and the Juddmonte? It is about three and a half weeks (25 days). It’s enough time (for both races), I should think.

“Aidan knows what to do with the horses, but I would think that is a distinct possibility.

“He’s fast enough for 10 furlongs and the Breeders’ Cup is a possibility, for sure.”