Nostrum created a big impression when making all the running to win the Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket.

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the Kingman colt was one of last season’s leading juveniles, finishing third in the Dewhurst behind subsequent 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean – like Nostrum owned by Juddmonte.

Forced to miss the Guineas due to a minor setback, Nostrum was making his seasonal reappearance at Listed level but was still sent off the 11-10 favourite against some promising rivals.

Ryan Moore was happy to make the running, settling beautifully, and just like his sire he produced a smart turn of foot when needed.

Going into the dip, when Moore pressed the button the race was soon over and while the previously unbeaten Embesto gave chase, he was beaten by a comprehensive three lengths.

Stoute said: “It was everything I hoped to see. He had been off for nine months, but he was working very well.

“It looked a competitive field, so we weren’t confident of winning, but we knew he’d run very well.

“But he was most impressive. I was very pleased with him.

“He knocked a hind leg and he needed time to get the infection out and get him right again. The last three weeks we’ve been happy that he’d shown progressive improvement. Ryan liked him.”

Coral halved Stoute’s charge to 6-1 for the Qatar Sussex Stakes, but Stoute said: “I haven’t a clue yet where he will go. He could go a mile and a quarter when we want. We have to see how he comes out of it.

“He will tell us if he could go into Group One company next time, but on today’s evidence, I think he’s ready. I don’t know.

“His two-year-old career was brimfull of promise. Things didn’t quite right for him in the Dewhurst. He’s come here today and won impressively and we can only be very happy, because he is a nice, progressive horse.”

Israr was well on top of the line, as 2021 Derby and King George winner Adayar disappointed in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket.

Charlie Appleby’s Adayar was a long odds-on favourite to get back to winning ways following a meritorious run in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Back up to his favoured mile and a half on the July course, the 1-3 market leader was expected to take care of three rivals before heading to the King George and an attempt to reclaim the crown he won two years ago.

Everything appeared to be going smoothly three furlongs from home as Jim Crowley began to get serious with Israr, but Adayar was not pulling away.

As soon as Israr, trained by John and Thady Gosden, pulled level, William Buick began to send out distress signals but there was no response from Adayar, with Israr (7-2) ultimately pulling four and a half lengths clear.

It is rare that husband and wife jockeys ride against each other in a top-class race, and it is rarer still that they ride for the same trainer.

Yet that is the prospect facing Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle when they oppose each other in the Group One Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.

Doyle is on the much-fancied Nashwa for owner Imad Al Sagar, while Marquand will sport the famous pink and green Juddmonte colours aboard Coppice, with both trained by John and Thady Gosden.

For racing’s ‘golden couple’, it is business as normal, as Doyle explained: “I’m obviously only riding because of Imad’s retainer, but it’s good that Tom has picked up that good ride.

“Riding against him in a Group One for the same team is not something I’ve really thought about – it would never really cross my mind. It’s just another day at the office.”

Third in last year’s Oaks, Nashwa went on to give Doyle a first Classic success when taking the French equivalent at Chantilly before recording a second Group One success in the Nassau at Goodwood and excellent placed efforts in both France and America.

However, she has failed to really sparkle in her two starts this term, at Chantilly and Newcastle, and Doyle is hoping she will finally be ready to show her true colours as she drops back to a mile for the first time in eight starts since landing a Haydock novice in April last year.

“I think she has taken a time to come to hand,” added Doyle. “She is really big and has grown a lot over the winter. I just think she has taken a few runs to get straightened out, really.

“John and Thady are clearly happy with the way she has come out of Newcastle to run her back in the Falmouth. We will leave it to them – they usually do the right thing.”

Marquand replaces the suspended Frankie Dettori aboard Coppice, who followed up her Newcastle novice success with victory in the Sandringham at Royal Ascot.

He said: “Obviously it’s fantastic to pick up a ride of Coppice’s quality in a major Group One.

“She comes in off the back of an impressive performance at Ascot with Frankie and under unfortunate circumstances for him, I’ve been lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to get aboard her, so hopefully she can continue along her progressive path.”

Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owner Juddmonte, feels it is a “nice opportunity” for Coppice to test her mettle.

He said: “This is a huge step up in class, but she’s a nice filly and she won well at Ascot.

“She’s a filly that we have Group-race aspirations for so we will start here and see how we get on and if we have to lower her sights, then we can. She’s a filly who, if she could get third in a Group One, then that would be a nice result.”

The George Boughey-trained Via Sistina, winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh just under two weeks ago, is a likely favourite but her participation hinges on some ease in the Newmarket ground.

Bookmakers see Ralph Beckett’s duo, Remarquee and last year’s winner Prosperous Voyage, as the biggest threats outside of Nashwa, with the former making her first outing for new owners Wathnan Racing on the back of her second to Tahiyra in the Coronation Stakes.

Meanwhile, defending champion Prosperous Voyage was a winner at Epsom before finishing third in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Ascot and returns to the scene of her finest hour with William Buick deputising for the suspended Frankie Dettori in the saddle.

“Hopefully the rain will hold off for her,” said Jamie McCalmont, racing manager for Marc Chan, who owns the filly with Andrew Rosen.

“Her last two runs have been good and she goes into the race as well as she did last year, so you would have to be really hopeful.”

Saffie Osborne maintains her partnership with Ed Walker’s Random Harvest, having finished a place behind Prosperous Voyage at Epsom, but a place in front of that rival at Ascot, while Never Ending Story (Aidan O’Brien), Ameynah (Roger Varian) and Astral Beau (Pam Sly) complete the line-up.

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.”

Classic-winning jockey Eddie Ahern, whose 10-year ban for passing on inside information and failing to ride a horse on its merits came to an end in May, is exploring all options for the future as he begins riding out for William Haggas.

The 45-year-old rode work on Saturday morning for the first time and was in situ at Somerville Lodge on Monday morning, although a serious leg injury could put paid to any thoughts of a return to race-riding for the time being.

“Ten years is a long time and it has felt like forever,” said Ahern. “I think I’m a long way from a comeback, because I had such a bad leg injury in May last year.”

A badly-broken leg twice rejected a nail incision, causing severe infections, and Ahern required a lengthy stay in hospital, diminishing hope that he could return to race-riding.

“I was in a lot of pain. I’m not in any pain now and the bone has completely healed. I have a bit of a limp and I’m still not running yet.

“I put myself on a strict diet when I was in hospital, but I weighed myself the other day and I was 10 stone.

“The leg is good and strong, but I can’t go out and put the sweatsuit on and run three miles, all the time I’m limping.

“However, I am blessed with a physique which adapts easily to the weight demands of riding on the Flat so, with the right diet and routine, making the weight would be no problem to me.”

A former Irish champion apprentice, Ahern was found guilty by a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel of conspiring to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice in relation to the laying of five horses between September 2010 and February 2011.

He was also found to have intentionally failed to ensure Judgethemoment was ridden on its merits at Lingfield in January 2011, and of passing information for reward.

Ahern, who won the Irish St Leger in 2011 for John Gosden when Duncan dead-heated with Jukebox Jury, was subsequently banned for 10 years in 2013.

“Obviously, I felt the punishment was harsh, but I have served my ban and I need to move on,” he said.

“I am allowed to ride out for trainers, and while I still haven’t fully recovered from a broken leg, I wanted to get my leg stronger, get myself fit and get back into riding racehorses.

“I have been riding showjumpers, it has really helped get me back riding and strong again, but I wanted to get back on the racehorse again. It is where my passion lies and I have really missed it. It is really nice to get on a nice three-year-old or four-year-old.”

Ahern and his partner, top showjumper Holly Smith, rent a yard in Leicestershire, where she is rebuilding her string. Ahern plans to break-in yearlings, pre-train and prepare breeze-up horses for trainers over the winter.

Though keen to build the business further, Ahern is not ruling out a return to the saddle, but admits it will be tough to do.

He said: “I am really thankful for the opportunity to ride out for Mr Haggas.

“I rode a lot of winners, including one at Royal Ascot, for him. I want to see if the bug still there, whether the fire is still in my stomach.

“I haven’t ridden racehorses in a while and when you are a work rider, it is all about educating the horses and getting the pace right, and feeding back as much information to the trainer as possible. I wanted to get back doing all that, especially with such high-class horses.

“William and (wife) Maureen know how much I admire them as people and as trainers.

“I love them, the lads in the yard, the yard itself and love the routine and the set-up. I missed seeing everyone’s faces. It is nice to see the riding-out boots and breeches.

“I know all the tracks and the gallops, I know how Mr Haggas wants his horses ridden and know how they should be ridden. I just want to get back doing all that again.

“I don’t know if I will make a comeback. What I do know is I want to get fit and get strong, and go down to ride work.

“I know the weight will fall off. I’m using all the old muscles I used to use before. My legs need to get stronger and my body to get stronger, but I’m 45. I’m under no illusions – I have a ‘Dad-bod’ at the moment!

“I feel I’m a lot older, I have other ideas in my head, breaking, pre-training, breeze-ups. Race-riding is a young man’s game. With one meeting a day and no saunas, it just makes life hard for jockeys, but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.

“I’m happy to work hard for Mr Haggas and do as much as I can – and learn from him because, who knows, someday I might want to be a trainer.

“I’m just delighted to be given the opportunity to ride out and we’ll take things one step at a time.”

William Buick is ever confident he can retain the jockeys’ title he won for the first time last year, following a Newmarket treble on Saturday.

The champion was in fine form, booting home Star of Mystery and debutant Dance Sequence for Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby and completed a hat-trick when coming with a late rattle to get the William Haggas-trained Royal Charter up in the dying strides of the mile fillies’ handicap.

Having run away with the title last season with 157 winners – 66 more than his closest rival – he now has to contend with former champion Oisin Murphy, who missed last term when suspended.

Murphy is neck and neck in the race for the title, having been in double form at Newcastle with Batal Dubai for Harry and Roger Charlton and Nobel for Andrew Balding.

But Buick is relishing the challenge to retain the crown and said: “It will be a ding-dong. Nothing changes.

“It is a long way to go, but you just go and do your best every day and hope you knock a few in.”

Paddy Power make it a two-horse race, with Murphy at 8-11 and Buick even-money, with Tom Marquand next best at 20-1.

Murphy partnered winners for 38 different trainers for his last championship in 2021, but Buick feels he is in pole position and added: “I’d be pretty confident (of winning the title). You have got to be consistent.

“I’m in a very privileged position with Godolphin, obviously, and the jockeys’ championship is something that I am going for.

“It’s always difficult, but I managed to balance it well last year and hopefully I’ll do it again this year.

“It will be a fascinating battle. I think it is what the sport wants. It’s good. It’s going to be good fun.”

John Quinn has not ruled out running gutsy mare Highfield Princess in the July Cup at Newmarket, following her two placed efforts in Group One sprints at Royal Ascot last week.

A triple Group One winner last season, the six-year-old was beaten a length when runner-up to Bradsell in the King’s Stand last Tuesday and was narrowly denied again when third to Khaadem in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

“We’re as pleased as we could be. We’d like to have won one of them, but anyway, there we are,” said Quinn. “She has come out of Saturday’s race really well, which is the important thing. She’s a great mare.”

Highfield Princess’s fairytale rise through the ranks, from winning off a mark of 58 at Ayr in September 2020 to triple Group One scorer last term, has made her one of the most popular horses in training,

The North Yorkshire trainer says she will follow a similar path to last season, which included victories in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, Nunthorpe at York and Flying Five at the Curragh, before she finished a close-up fourth to Caravel in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland.

However, he is mulling over an additional run in Newmarket’s Group One feature on July 15, for which she is a general 5-1 chance.

“She is in the July Cup in three weeks’ time and we’ll consider that, but if we don’t, we’ll just wait for a little bit,” said Quinn.

“I do think she’s a Breeders’ Cup horse. We’ll go down the same route. All being well, we’ll run her in the Coolmore Nunthorpe, the Flying Five and see how we go.

“The July Cup is a question mark, though possibly Goodwood for her, possibly. That would give her a nice break.”

Quinn had two other runners at the Royal meeting, with Breege beaten a length second to Coppice in the 29-runner Sandringham and Mr Wagu downed by two and three-quarter lengths when seventh to Saint Lawrence in the 27-runner Wokingham.

“It was a fantastic meeting. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We don’t cry,” said Quinn. “We ran four horses, three of them were placed and Mr Wagyu was just out of the money, beaten a short head out of sixth place in the Wokingham, so they have all run really well.”

He added: “We will have a think about where we go with Breege. Mr Wagyu might go back to Ireland for the race he won there last year (Paddy Power Scurry Handicap, Curragh, July 22) then onto the Stewards’ Cup (Goodwood, August 5) – that’s the way we are thinking with them.”

Inspiral limbered up for her return to action at Royal Ascot next week with a racecourse gallop on Newmarket’s July course on Tuesday morning.

Unbeaten in four juvenile starts, the Cheveley Park Stud-owned filly did not make her three-year-old debut until running out a brilliant winner of the Coronation Stakes 12 months ago and will once again make her reappearance at the Royal meeting, this time in the curtain-raising Queen Anne Stakes.

Following her scintillating success in the Coronation, Inspiral went on to suffer a shock defeat in the Falmouth Stakes before bouncing back to claim a third Group One win in the Prix Jacques le Marois in France.

With last month’s Lockinge at Newbury coming too soon, the Frankel filly has not been seen in finishing down the field in the QEII on Champions Day at Ascot in October, but trainer John Gosden expressed his satisfaction after seeing her pull comfortably clear of her work companion under Frankie Dettori.

“We have been very happy with her recently and she enjoyed her work there. It was nice to get her back on the track,” said the Clarehaven handler.

“A racecourse gallop was part of the plan and it is a big help heading into Royal Ascot without having had a run.

“She has taken her time to come to hand. We had a cold wet spring then we had a lot of cold, dry weather with winds from the north east off the North Sea. A lot of these fillies just haven’t flourished, that is all.”

While Gosden is taking some encouragement from the fact Inspiral proved herself capable of producing a big performance first time out last season, he admits she has more on her plate this time around, with the Breeders’ Cup Mile and Lockinge winner Modern Games among her likely rivals.

He added: “We were hoping to go to the Lockingem but it didn’t quite happen so we will go straight into the Queen Anne. We did it last year going into the Coronation Stakes.

“It does give us confidence going there knowing that we have done this before. It is like all these fillies though – they will tell you when they are ready to run, you don’t tell them.

“Last year we were just taking on three-year-old fillies. This year we are taking on proven older horses like the Breeders’ Cup Mile winner, so it is a much bigger test.

“It would be very exciting if she did win. We just want to get her there in good order and at the moment we would be very pleased with her.”

Desert Crown enjoyed a gallop in Newmarket on Friday morning as he put the finishing touches to his Brigadier Gerard Stakes preparations ahead of his eagerly-anticipated return next Thursday.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt has been off the track since scorching to victory in the Derby just shy of 12 months ago, but has sportingly been kept in training by his owner Saeed Suhail in a bid to secure more middle-distance riches this term.

Partnered on the Limekilns by regular jockey Richard Kingscote, connections were delighted to be able to get the son of Nathaniel on grass before his Sandown reappearance and with the tuning-up process all but complete, excitement is now building ahead of a contest Stoute has won 11 times in the past – including last year with Desert Crown’s stablemate Bay Bridge.

“We were very pleased to get him on the grass on the round gallop on the Limekilns and he worked very nicely and finished in front of his lead horse,” said Bruce Raymond, racing manager for the owner.

“I’m not sure if he does too much at home now, but he shouldn’t need to, he will be in good shape going into the Brigadier Gerard.”

Desert Crown is one of eight in the mix for the Sandown Group Three and could be joined by stablemate and regular gallops partner Solid Stone.

Also on the comeback trail is Owen Burrows’ Hukum who has been on the sidelines for virtually the same amount of time as Desert Crown having not been seen since landing the Coronation Cup the day before the latter’s Epsom triumph.

Group One-winning filly Nashwa is one of two in the mix for John and Thady Gosden alongside Francesco Clemente, while the David Simcock-trained Cash was beaten a short head by subsequent Irish Derby champion Westover over track and trip in the Classic Trial last term and could make just his second start at the distance.

Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Royal Ascot winner Claymore and Keith Dalgleish’s Chichester complete the list of entrants.