Headlines

King Of Steel is set to be given more time and moss the Juddmonte at York in favour of heading over to Leopardstown for the Irish Champion Stakes, confirms Roger Varian.

Desert Crown remains on course to go hoof-to-hoof with Paddington and Hakum at York, but it would be no surprise to see the former Derby winner pick up a last-minute knock and miss the meeting.

Pierre-Louis Jamin could lose his claim tonight if can land his 95th winner aboard regular feature of the newsletter Bazball in the in the 15:50 at Wolverhampton. The apprentice is the most in-form jockey of the last 14 days, with a 30% SR. Albeit winning three of 10 rides in that time.

Arc runner-up Vadeni has been retired to stand at Aga Khan’s stud after failing to match last year’s heroics.

Racing League

In Racing League queen Saffie Osbourne we trust. She’s back on Chinese Knot in the opener as they seek a hattrick, but he’s not for me tonight. Neither is Libra Tiger at at 18:00, as I’m more drawn to Zoukster looking for a fourth win in five starts at 4/1 in the 18:30 and a 2lb rise looks manageable.

It’s Gallant Lion (3/1 19:30) who has the most appeal for me, however. He’s seeking a four-timer and he looks like he’s going to be very hard to stop. His form suggests he should have no problem with this longer trip and further progress should be on the cards.

One to watch

Just the nine juvenile races across the cards today. The first one that catches my eye is Romanova in the opener at Salisbury. Ollie Sangster’s filly is drifting at a worrying rate and is now out to 3/1, but she began her racing career with a debut seventh straight into Listed company and she should be much more suited to this lower grade. Oisin Murphy takes the ride and I highlighted his fine form at this course on Twitter (X?) earlier.

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Stable Whispers

It’s back to the Racing League for today’s edition of Stable Whispers. Today’s horse on the grapevine is Metal Merchant at 9/2 in the 19:00.

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I’m putting faith in Oisin again onboard Queen Regent (9/4) in the 16:40 at Salisbury. This one does take a lot of trust though, as it’s the Qatar Racing filly’s first race on turf, handicap debut and she is upped in trip to 1m4f. The distance should be no issue on pedigree though and she looked the one most open to improvement in this field.

The next selection is Jkr Cobbler at 15/8 in the 20:12 at Ayr. He’s in incredible form after going 3-3 at this course since mid-July and a 5lb penalty shouldn’t be enough to stop him completing the four-timer over this one-furlong extra trip today.