Henry Candy’s Araminta continued her quick rise through the ranks to claim the William Hill Height of Fashion Stakes at Goodwood.

Only making her debut last month, she was an impressive winner in testing ground over seven furlongs at Newbury before going on to finish third over a mile in the Listed company most recently.

Upped in distance, she took the step up to 10 furlongs in her stride, quickening up smartly and then running on strongly to win by one and a half lengths at 15-2.

“She seems to go on both sorts of ground and we’ve seen here she gets the mile and a quarter well,” said Candy.

“I’m very pleased with her progression and that she can handle both types of ground.”

However, a trip to Royal Ascot looks doubtful with Candy hoping to now give the daughter of Gleneagles a break while connections plot their next move.

“I think probably not because we don’t think she could quite manage a mile and a half. A mile and a quarter might be enough,” said Candy, when asked if he would consider supplementing the filly for the Ribblesdale Stakes at the royal meeting.

“She’s had three quick races so we’ll give her a bit of a break while we think about what comes next.”

It was a case of keeping it in the family in the British EBF 40th Anniversary Cocked Hat Stakes where Gregory replicated the exploits of half-brother Lionel who won the Listed event last year

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the Golden Horn colt was an impressive winner on debut at Haydock and was sent off the 4-7 favourite to remain unbeaten on the Sussex Downs.

Ridden with patience by Robert Havlin and given plenty of time to ease his way into the contest, he was staying on strongly at the business end to grind down Frankie Dettori and Hadrianus who had been dictating the pace on the front end and was eventually passed for second by Klondike.

It was back-to-back victories in the race for owner-breeder Philippa Cooper who runs her horses under the Normandie Stud Ltd moniker and Gregory was cut to 16-1 from 25s by Paddy Power for the St Leger later in the year.

Nashwa returns to France on Sunday to kick off her four-year-old campaign in the Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the daughter of Frankel’s finest hour came on the continent last June when she claimed Classic honours in the Prix de Diane and a fine 2022 season saw her add further Group One riches in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

Brave efforts in defeat in both the Prix de l’Opera and Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf followed and having missed out on her intended return date in the Middleton Stakes, she now crosses the Channel once again for the Group Two contest over 10 furlongs.

“She had a wonderful season last year,” said Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Imad Al Sagar.

“It was Imad’s first homebred Classic winner when she won the Prix de Diane which was more than exciting and she went and confirmed that in the Nassau.

“She was a little bit unlucky in the Prix de l’Opera and she missed the kick at the Breeders’ Cup.

“She’s wintered well and her preparation has been pretty straightforward. We hoped to get her back for the Middleton at York but we just ran out of a bit of time. She just hadn’t quite come to herself and really wanted an extra week or so, which she has now got.”

Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve is also a Group One winner in France having won the Prix Saint-Alary at ParisLongchamp last May and added the Blandford Stakes to her CV before finishing behind Nashwa in both the Opera and at the Breeders’ Cup.

She brought up the rear on her return in the Mooresbridge Stakes but that will have blown away the cobwebs and O’Brien expects her to show her true colours now.

“It looks a very good race, but she’s come out of her comeback run at the Curragh very well, she’s in very good form,” said O’Brien.

“She’s run well in France in the past which is always a help. It looks a suitable spot for her and hopefully she runs well.”

Waldemar Hickst’s India won the Prix Allez France in the capital last month, scoring by a head from Andre Fabre’s Mqse De Sevigne, and the pair clash again.

Francis-Henri Graffard’s Baiykara and Jerome Reynier’s Romagna Mia were further down the field on that occasion and complete the sextet that go to post in Paris.

Max Verstappen finished fastest in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crashed out.

Verstappen edged out home favourite Charles Leclerc by just 0.065 seconds with his Ferrari team-mate Sainz third.

Fernando Alonso finished fourth for Aston Martin ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

As Verstappen raced to the top of the charts, Sainz’s running ended with 17 minutes remaining.

The Spaniard, who was earlier quickest in the first session, clipped the entry barrier into the swimming pool chicane, damaging his right-front suspension, before heading straight into the tyre wall on the opposite side of the track.

“I crashed,” said the Spaniard. “I’m sorry.” The session was suspended for six minutes as Sainz’s wounded Ferrari was removed from the circuit.

After giving up on this season’s car on the eve of the opening race, Mercedes have arrived for the sixth round in the sun-cooked principality with a new concept.

The Silver Arrows have abandoned their controversial zero-sidepod design and introduced a new front suspension, new floor and cooling system in a change of development on a car which has contributed to the longest losing streak of Hamilton’s career.

On Sunday, it will be 539 days since Hamilton last stood on the top step of the podium at the penultimate round of the contentious 2021 season in Saudi Arabia.

However, on the evidence of practice, the seven-time world champion appears no closer to the front.

Hamilton ended the opening running in third place, but he had dropped to sixth by the conclusion of the day, half-a-second back. George Russell was a disappointing 12th in the other Mercedes, seven tenths adrift.

Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez are the only men to have won a race this year and their rapid Red Bull is not necessarily suited to the narrow and slow-speed confines of the unique Monte Carlo configuration.

But, despite Perez managing only seventh in practice, Verstappen’s pace on Friday suggests he might yet be the driver to beat for the remainder of the weekend.

In first practice, the red flags were deployed in the closing minutes when Alex Albon lost control of his Williams through the opening Sainte Devote corner.

The London-born Thai slammed into the wall, but, despite admitting to banging his knees, he emerged relatively unscathed from the 100mph accident.

The same could however not be said for Albon’s Williams following significant damage to the left-hand side of his machine.

He returned to the track with 11 minutes of second practice remaining following a three-hour repair job by his team.

Geraint Thomas will wear the leader’s pink jersey into Saturday’s decisive mountain time trial at the Giro d’Italia after Primoz Roglic could take only a handful of seconds out of the Welshman’s advantage on the Queen stage in the Dolomites.

Thomas and Roglic traded attacks in the final kilometre of this beastly stage but at the very top of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo it was Roglic, who had changed bikes on the approach to the last climb to get better gearing, who was able to open up a three-second gap in the final few metres.

That cuts Thomas’ advantage to just 26 seconds going into Saturday’s race against the clock to the top of the Monte Lussari.

Joao Almeida was distanced in the last couple of hundred metres to concede 20 seconds but the Portuguese comfortably retains his spot on the podium, 59 seconds down, after Irishman Eddie Dunbar fell away late on to lose fourth place overall to Damiano Caruso.

“It was OK,” Thomas said. “When I went with 400 metres to go I realised after 100 that 400 is a long way at this altitude. I just tried to pace it and then Roglic came past in the last 100 metres or so.

“I lost a couple of seconds on the line but it was nice to gain some time on Joao, it will be super close tomorrow. I think it’s going to be exciting to watch, horrible to do.”

Santiago Buitrago took the win from what had been a 12-strong breakaway, again denying Derek Gee, the Canadian who was in a seventh break of this Giro and who had fought until the final 1500 metres before watching the Colombian dance away.

Before the stage began Thomas, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Thursday, had joked he should not still be doing this sort of thing at his age and ought to be on a beach somewhere.

Instead, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was tackling a 183km stage through the Dolomites that included almost five and a half thousand metres of climbing.

The last time the Giro visited this finish 10 years ago, Vincenzo Nibali emerged from a snowstorm at the summit to take a win which effectively sealed his overall victory.

There would be nothing so decisive here given what is still to come on Saturday, but it could be another major test ticked off for Thomas as Roglic could only put a minor dent in his lead.

The Slovenian certainly tried to do more. With 20km to go Roglic stopped to swap bikes, hopping on to a machine with a single ring on the front and a monster 44t sprocket at the back, a sign of his intentions for a finale where gradients hit 16 per cent.

As clear skies gave way to heavy rain and hail, Thomas’s Ineos Grenadiers set their usual strong tempo to whittle down the slim remnants of the peloton.

That did for Dunbar with a couple of kilometres to go. Almeida briefly moved up as riders fought for space on roads packed with excited fans.

Roglic wriggled through but Thomas reacted to stay on his wheel as they reached the sanctuary of the barriers on the approach to the line.

Thomas then made his own move with 400 metres to go and seemed to be leaving Roglic behind, only for the Slovenian to find a final kick at the end and take back three seconds, narrowly failing to catch Magnus Cort who rode in third to take the last of the bonus seconds on the line.

The Jockey Club has been granted a High Court injunction against Animal Rising protesters who plan to disrupt the Betfred Derby at Epsom next weekend.

The application was lodged by the Jockey Club, who own Epsom Downs alongside many other high-profile tracks, as they felt the organisation had made it “explicitly clear” that they intended to breach security at the Surrey racecourse to stage a disruptive protest.

Word of their plans came after disruption to the Grand National at Aintree in April, when the race was delayed by just over 10 minutes after demonstrators made their way onto the track and had to be removed by police.

Officials at the Jockey Club feared the Epsom protest would endanger participants, racegoers and horses – although they state they do not dismiss the right to peaceful protest and have offered Animal Rising an area near the entrance of the racecourse specifically for this purpose on Derby day, June 3.

The injunction granted by High Court judge Sir Anthony Mann prohibits individuals from entering onto the racetrack and carrying out other acts with the intention and/or effect of disrupting the races.

Such acts include intentionally causing objects to enter the racetrack, entering the parade ring, entering and/or remaining on the horses’ route to the parade ring and to the racetrack without authorisation, and intentionally endangering any person at Epsom Downs racecourse during the two-day Derby Festival.

Individuals acting in breach of the court order could be subject to proceedings for contempt of court, which may lead to a fine and/or imprisonment.

The Jockey Club’s chief executive, Nevin Truesdale, said: “Our number one priority will always be to ensure that the safety of all our equine and human participants and racegoers, officials and our own employees is not compromised.

“Animal Rising have repeatedly made it explicitly clear that they intend to break the law and disrupt The Derby Festival and that left us with no choice but to seek this injunction, having consulted with a number of stakeholders including Surrey Police.

“We will never tolerate a repeat of the illegal disruption we saw at Aintree on Grand National day and we welcome today’s High Court ruling, which provides us with an additional layer of security to combat the threat of such dangerous and reckless behaviour.

“We believe everyone should have the right to peaceful protest and have offered Animal Rising an area near the entrance of Epsom Downs racecourse to express their views in a law-abiding way. However, anyone who attempts to disrupt the race or compromise the safety of horses or humans will be dealt with robustly by our security teams and the police.

“As such I now urge Animal Rising to abandon any plans to breach security at The Derby Festival and respect the legitimate right of the thousands of people who will join us at Epsom Downs and the millions of people watching at home and around the world to enjoy the sport they love uninterrupted.”

Aryna Sabalenka could end the French Open as world number one but accepts she will begin it against a player who “hates” her.

The Belarusian won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open and has maintained the momentum, winning the Madrid Open earlier this month and closing the gap on Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings.

Winning a second successive major crown would guarantee Sabalenka the number one spot for the first time but first up comes what will be an awkward encounter against Marta Kostyuk.

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Kostyuk has been the most outspoken Ukrainian player about the sport’s response to the invasion of her home country by Russia and believes Russian and Belarusian players should have been willing to condemn their nations’ actions.

She refuses to shake hands with players from the two countries at the end of matches, but Sabalenka insisted that will not bother her, saying: “I kind of can understand them.

“I imagine (if) they’re going to shake hands with Russians and Belarusians then they’re going to get so many messages from their home country. At the same time, I feel like sports shouldn’t be in politics.

“We’re just athletes. If they feel good with no shaking hands, I’m happy with that.

“I don’t want to waste my energy on this kind of stuff. It’s none of my business. So, if she hates me, OK. I can’t do anything about that.

“There is going to be people who love me, there is going to be people who hate me. If she hates me, I don’t feel anything like that to her.”

Sabalenka has won arguably the two best matches of the season, beating Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final and Swiatek to triumph in Madrid.

Between them, Sabalenka, Swiatek and Rybakina have won seven of the biggest titles of the season so far and hold all four slam trophies, burying the narrative of instability at the top of the women’s game post-Serena Williams.

It would be a major surprise if the winner of the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen does not come from that trio and Swiatek, who cruised to her second Roland Garros title last year, said: “For sure it’s a totally different situation than last year.

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“It’s nice to have somebody constantly kind of watching you. We played so many matches against each other that tactically we know our games pretty well. But we also have to come up with some different solutions sometimes, which is pretty exciting, because I never had that yet in my career.

“I think this is what the big three (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) had to do for sure when they played 30 matches against each other or even more.

“So I’m happy to learn some new stuff. And also we are all working really hard to play better and better. It is an extra motivation, for sure.”

Sabalenka will be trying to put thoughts of the number one ranking out of her mind and is enjoying the challenge of the three-way fight.

“I think it’s good for tennis to see the top players consistently doing well,” she said. “I think it’s pushing everybody to the next level and pushing everybody to do better and to play better.

“That’s how I was pushed by Iga last season. I think it’s good for people to watch these kind of matches and to see that top players are reaching the last stages of the tournament.”

Swiatek arrived in Paris under an injury cloud after suffering a thigh problem during her clash with Rybakina in Rome last week but she insisted she will be fit to face Cristina Bucsa in the first round.

“Luckily nothing serious happened, so I had couple of days off,” she said. “I’m still recovering from the thigh injury, but I’ll be good for my first round. That’s the most important thing for me.”

Get Ahead stamped her class on the EBF British Stallion Studs Cecil Frail at Haydock.

Clive Cox’s filly was the 7-4 favourite to strike Listed gold for the first time, having finished third twice at this level last season and again on her reappearance at Bath last month.

She was unable to land a telling blow when sixth in the Group Three Palace House Stakes at Newmarket three weeks ago, but showed her true colours returning to a sounder surface on Merseyside.

The daughter of Showcasing, a half-sister to 2000 Guineas hero Chaldean, travelled strongly throughout the six-furlong contest in the hands of Richard Kingscote, who always appeared confident he had matters well in hand.

Once asked to extend, Get Ahead readily quickened up to grab the lead and she was ultimately good value for the official winning margin of a length and a quarter, with Kape Moss best of the rest in second.

Cox said: “I’m very pleased, she’s a really nice filly and she’s got a lot of speed, so I’m pleased she’s stretched out to the six furlongs well today.

“She’s coming on all the time and maturity has been the answer to her really. She’s a half-sister to Chaldean and it’s a privilege to train a filly with such a quality pedigree.”

When asked about future plans, the trainer added: “Now she’s won a Listed race, we can explore a bit higher. She’s always shown a lot of promise, but with maturity, especially for the fillies, when it’s working for you it’s extremely pleasing.

“We’ll try to stay on the right side of the fence now, she likes quicker ground and it was great that Haydock provided that today.”

Cox and Kingscote were completing a double on the card following the earlier success of Spirit Of The Bay in the curtain-raising Tyldeseley Handicap.

Dan Evans has criticised the state of British tennis and believes Emma Raducanu’s success has papered over the cracks.

There will only be three British players in the singles main draws at the French Open starting on Sunday and, for the first time since 2008, no women.

Of the 10 British players in qualifying, none made the final round, while 2021 US Open champion Raducanu joined Andy Murray in withdrawing having undergone surgery on both her wrists and one ankle.

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Speaking ahead of his first-round clash with Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis, Evans said: “They’ve been lucky that they had a grand slam champion and she’s a very good tennis player but the rankings don’t lie, do they?

“Men’s or women’s, the rankings don’t lie. Men’s, not many of us playing qualis, not many main draw. I don’t want to sound like a broken record. But there’s way further to go than just the top players. It’s from the bottom up.

“We’re in a massive, massive habit of sending people to college now. I don’t think that massively helps. It’ll be interesting. I think the grass last year really helped paper over some cracks as well. After the grass, there will be a bit of soul-searching I imagine, after their holidays.”

Evans has been a long-time critic of the domestic set-up and recently criticised some of his fellow British players for not competing enough and being willing to grind out life on the tour.

A late bloomer after serving a drugs ban and admitting to enjoying the party lifestyle too much, Evans knows well both the pitfalls and what it takes to achieve success.

The world number 24 said: “You’ve got to work hard. I know what it’s like to not work hard and what you get from that and I know what it’s like to work hard and get decent rewards.

“I’m not sitting here saying I know the answers. I have a fair idea of the answers and I would do it very differently to what’s happening now I think. There’s enough people playing junior tennis. We just don’t help them.”

Evans reserved his strongest ire for former Lawn Tennis Association performance director Simon Timson – now occupying the same role with Manchester City – who was the architect of a performance strategy that heavily funds a small number of players.

“It’s just heartbreaking that a guy next door to you is getting 70 grand or something, but you’re better than him,” said Evans. “But a guy with these stats is telling you, ‘No, no, he’s better’.

“You can look who has been on PSP (Pro Scholarship Programme, the highest level of support). It’s hardly flourishing reading is it? And that’s what I think we need to (do) – get a bigger pool and just pool it all in and get going. It’s simple maths. But Simon Timson, he was the mastermind of it all.

“I couldn’t give a s**t about it. Simon Timson sat next to me and told me, ‘In all due respect to James Ward and Heather Watson, I put you three in the same bracket. You are close to finishing your career.’ And I said, ‘Thanks man’. That was that meeting.

“And I seem to have done all right since that meeting. He sent me to a psychologist, that was about it. I told him that it was a stepping stone, the job, and that’s exactly what it was. He wouldn’t be there in three years and he wasn’t. He didn’t know what he was watching.”

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Evans is certainly an example of what can be achieved with hard work and the right attitude, and he will hope to continue his improvement on clay when he takes on Kokkinakis on Sunday.

The British number two has lost his last three matches but reached the semi-finals of clay tournaments in Marrakech and Barcelona.

He joked of his relationship with the surface: “We had a good week at the start, and then we’ve not been on talking terms really, sleeping in separate beds.

“No, it’s been good. I feel comfortable. I’ve been playing good. It’s probably helped having an Argentinian coach, little intricacies, which the British probably don’t know because they’re not so brought up on the clay.”

Little Big Bear bids to get his season back on track in a fascinating renewal of the Betfred Nifty Fifty Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.

Narrowly beaten on his debut last spring, Aidan O’Brien’s colt went on to win his next four races, with a stunning display in the Phoenix Stakes ensuring he ended the year as Europe’s champion juvenile.

Following nine months off the track, O’Brien decided to roll the dice in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket three weeks ago, but the son of No Nay Never pulled fiercely for his head in the rain-softened ground on the Rowley Mile and eventually passed the post last of 14 runners.

Despite that disappointing performance, Little Big Bear is a hot favourite to get back on the winning trail on Merseyside, returning to six furlongs on a quickening surface in the hands of Frankie Dettori.

O’Brien said: “We’re looking forward to seeing him run again.

“It was a possibility that he’d return to sprinting and the Guineas was just a little bit of a non-event for him.

“We felt that if he was going to go for the Commonwealth (Cup at Royal Ascot), then he had to have a run back sprinting before then, so that is why he’s back here.

“It will be nice to get him back on a bit of nice ground and we’ve been very happy with him at home, obviously the Guineas wasn’t that long ago but we’re happy with what he’s done since.”

Little Big Bear is unlikely to have things all his own way in the six-furlong Group Two, with a clutch of high-class contenders prepared to take him on.

The horse rated the biggest threat by bookmakers is the Archie Watson-trained Bradsell, who was brilliant in winning the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer and then suffered a season-ending injury when fourth behind Little Big Bear in the Phoenix Stakes.

There was plenty of encouragement to be taken from his comeback run when third behind the reopposing Cold Case in the Commonwealth Cup Trial at Ascot and Watson expects him to strip fitter for that run.

“I’m very happy with him. He travelled very well at Ascot and got a bit tired late, which was to be expected. I hope he can take a good step forwards fitness-wise from there,” said the Lambourn handler.

“It looks a very strong trial for the Commonwealth Cup. I’d say whatever wins will be the one to beat at Ascot, so at least we’ll all know after the weekend.

“We’re delighted with our horse, so fingers crossed.”

Cold Case’s trainer Karl Burke is expecting another bold showing from his charge, despite having reservations about underfoot conditions.

He said: “It looks a competitive race, but he’s in great form.

“Quicker ground is probably slightly against him, but he’s going to have to face that at some stage and we are very happy with him at home.

“Fingers crossed he can run a big race.”

Little Big Bear is one of two Irish-trained runners along with Kieran Cotter’s Matilda Picotte.

The Sioux Nation filly drops back in distance following an excellent effort to finish third in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier in the month.

“Her Guineas run puts her in the picture and we should be bang there. Her run in Newmarket was an exceptional performance off the pace she set,” said Cotter.

“In an ideal situation we would have liked a bit of rain, but she handled quick ground when she ran at York in the Lowther and she is pretty versatile.

“We’re looking forward to it and hope we come home with a bit of sterling.”

George Boughey saddles Al Dasim, who won three times at Meydan earlier in the year before finishing down the field in the Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night.

Norfolk Stakes winner The Ridler (Richard Fahey), Shouldvebeenaring (Richard Hannon) and Mill Stream (Jane Chapple-Hyam) complete the quality field.

Cameron Norrie’s title defence in Lyon ended with a one-sided loss to Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event.

More concerning than the 6-3 6-0 defeat, though, was Norrie’s physical condition, with the British number one clutching his stomach at points during the second set.

Norrie is Britain’s main hope for success at the French Open, where he is due to start his campaign on Monday against eccentric Frenchman Benoit Paire.

The 27-year-old won his fourth ATP title in Lyon last year but dropped serve in the opening game against Cerundolo and never looked like getting back into the contest.

It appeared he might retire when he headed to his bench during the opening game of the second set but Norrie did at least manage to finish the match.

Renowned for his physical prowess, Norrie must now concentrate on trying to ensure he is fully fit for the year’s second grand slam.

Memories of Roaring Lion will be evoked at Epsom next weekend when Running Lion runs in the Betfred Oaks and Dubai Mile contests the Betfred Derby.

The John Gosden-trained Roaring Lion finished third in the Derby in 2018 before winning the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and the QEII on Champions Day.

His owners Qatar Racing were rightly excited about his second career at stud, but it was sadly cut short after just one season when he died due to colic.

Gosden said: “He was a real tough cookie and he was a character too. He had so much talent he could play about and still run huge races.”

Gosden, along with his son Thady, also trains his daughter Running Lion, an impressive winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket.

“She did it in great style. The ground was a little bit testing that day, but she travelled well and flew home,” said John Gosden.

“We know she’s bred really to be a mile-and-a-quarter filly, her father was the last one off the bridle in the Derby and if she gets the distance, she’s in there with a huge shout.”

Oisin Murphy rode Roaring Lion to all his major success and believes there are similarities between the pair.

“They have the exact same shape shoulder and carry their head in a similar position and also have a similar constitution thus far, nothing has phased her so that’s really positive,” said Murphy.

“I’d imagine she will still be going pretty well coming around Tattenham Corner and I’ll know my fate then in the next furlong or two.”

Dubai Mile, a Group One winner at two for Charlie Johnston, will bid to give the trainer a first Derby winner with his first runner after a fine effort to be fifth in the 2000 Guineas.

“It’s amazing for Roaring Lion to have a runner in both the Oaks and the Derby from his one and only crop,” said Johnston.

“We haven’t needed to do a huge amount since Newmarket. He came out of that very well and it’s just a case of getting him there in one piece now.”

Kevin Ryan has the chance to notch the second Classic victory of his training career when Hi Royal goes for the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday.

The North Yorkshire-based handler saddled The Grey Gatsby to win the Prix du Jockey Club in 2014 and in Hi Royal he has one of the market principals for the colts’ mile Classic.

The son of Kodiac defied odds of 125-1 to pick up a silver medal in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and although the result caused some surprise among connections, hopes are high that he will prove his Rowley Mile performance was not a one-off.

“Of course we were surprised. We were hoping he’d run well, but we never expected him to go that close,” said Bruce Raymond, racing manager for Hi Royal’s owner, Jaber Abdullah.

“I don’t know if it was the soft ground, the fact he got his own way or what, but the form is pretty solid and he did it the hard way.

“Hopefully he should have a chance on Saturday, he should be one of the favourites I would imagine. We’re going there with a good shout, certainly a better shout than he had at Newmarket.

“He’s a strong, powerful colt and you would imagine that he should be all the better for that run.

“His pedigree suggests he’s a miler, but I think he’d stay 10 furlongs later in the year.

“It’s a stiff mile at the Curragh but a different test to Newmarket where you have to handle the undulations more than ever now, so much so that it’s now become a front-runners’ track. You don’t see many come from last now – a few years ago all you had to worry about was the dip, now you have to keep them balanced and keep up at the same time.

“We’re hopeful, but if it rains I’d be happier. It never gets too fast over there, though.”

A place behind Hi Royal at Newmarket was Paul and Oliver Cole’s Royal Scotsman, a high-class two-year-old last season who proved he would be a force once again this term on his return in top-table company.

Keenness dented his chances of truly lasting home over a mile at Newmarket, but he is given another crack at Classic honours having been supplemented into this race earlier in the week.

“He’s in great form, he left for Ireland on Thursday night and arrived Friday morning and has eaten up, so we couldn’t be happier with him,” said Oliver Cole.

“To do what he did at Newmarket, to be keen and pull for four furlongs and then finish shows he’s pretty good.

“He broke the track record in the Richmond at Goodwood and he was in the second fastest ever Dewhurst – his sectionals were amazing after the first furlong in the Dewhurst. He is a very, very good horse, everything just needs to go right for him. We like to think we have a live contender.”

Further UK representation is provided by Roger Varian’s Charyn and the Charlie Hills-trained Galeron, who outran odds of 150-1 to finish fourth at Newmarket and has a Curragh victory already on his CV.

“It was a really good effort at Newmarket, he just got a little bit far back,” said Hills, who won the race with Phoenix Of Spain in 2019.

“He was awkward away and it was a bit rough coming out of the gates, so he wasn’t really in the position we wanted to be but he still ran great. We were delighted with him.

“He has come out of Newmarket really well. Kieran (Shoemark) came and sat on him last week and was happy with him. Unfortunately he can’t ride him, but we’re really happy to have Colin (Keane) aboard him – he knows the Curragh pretty well.

“It’s great that Galeron has been to the Curragh before and won there. Having a bit of course experience and liking the track is going to suit him well.”

Aidan O’Brien is the race’s leading trainer having won it 11 times and is well represented as he seeks a first triumph in six years.

Stable jockey Ryan Moore has elected to ride Tetrarch Stakes scorer Paddington, while Cairo and Age Of Kings will also go to post for the Ballydoyle operation.

O’Brien said: “We’re very happy with Paddington, he won the Tetrarch nicely. We’re looking forward to him, it’s his first step up to Group One company.

“We’re very happy with Cairo as well.”

The home challenge is strengthened by Donnacha O’Brien’s Proud And Regal, who drops back in trip to a mile having finished third on his return in the Derby Trial at Leopardstown.

Although it may have been assumed the Galileo colt would be heading up in trip in search of Classic success following his reappearance, he is a Group One winner at this distance and his handler has no worries about the return to a mile.

“He’s in good form and everything has gone smooth since his run at Leopardstown,” said O’Brien.

“He’s going back in trip but he has good form at this distance – he has won a Group One at this trip – so we’re hopeful he will run a good race.”

Jessica Harrington saddles two in the race with Quar Shamar seeing the form of his Dundalk win boosted recently by the runner-up, while stablemate Bold Discovery has twice placed at Group Three level.

Luke Comer’s Alexander John completes the field of 11.

George Boughey has confirmed Asadna firmly on course for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot next month following his sensational debut victory at Ripon last weekend.

A 160,000 guineas purchase from the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale, the Mehmas colt put his rivals to the sword in North Yorkshire to record a remarkable 12-length success.

While trainer George Boughey was hoping his youngster would run with credit on his introduction, the Newmarket handler admits even he was taken aback by the nature of his performance.

He said: “Asadna was great on Sunday. It was a little bit unexpected, but his work’s been good since he came from the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up. We hoped that he might go close, but to go and put his head down and stride away like that was impressive.

“Even watching him, I felt he got a little bit lost as they started to quicken and he’s a six-furlong horse. Ascot is tailor-made for him. I think the way he does quicken on fast ground and is able to relax, you can put him anywhere in the race.

“He is right towards the top end of the market in the Coventry and we’ll obviously now head to Royal Ascot in search of a £125,000 Tattersalls Craven Royal Ascot Breeze Up Bonus.

“He’s got a very good mind – he just eats, sleeps and trains. I’m slightly worried half the time because he’s lying down, he’s a very relaxed horse.”

Another Tattersalls purchase for whom Boughey holds Royal Ascot aspirations is Soprano, who impressed on her racecourse bow at Newmarket and is being targeted at the Group Two Albany Stakes.

The daughter of Starspangledbanner was bought for 100,000 guineas on behalf of owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, for whom Boughey trained Cachet to win last year’s 1000 Guineas.

Boughey added: “Soprano was very impressive on debut, and it didn’t really come as a huge surprise. She’d been showing up well at home and she’d done plenty of work through the dip at Newmarket.

“We wanted to start over five furlongs because it gave us a bit more time to let her have a bit of downtime before bringing her back up to try to have a tilt at the Albany Stakes.

“She’s a very straightforward filly and one we’ve got high hopes for through the summer and into the backend of the year.”