The team brings you all the news from around the racing world on Thursday.
Scandinavia heads Leger decs
Scandinavia will lead a three-pronged Aidan O'Brien attack on Saturday's Betfred St Leger Stakes.
With Ryan Moore on the sidelines due to a leg injury and Wayne Lordan out of action because of a whip ban, Tom Marquand has received the call-up on O'Brien's current market leader, who will bid to follow-up his recent success in the Goodwood Cup last time out.
Alongside Marquand, who enjoyed Leger success on Galileo Chrome in 2020, Sean Levey will form part of the O'Brien jockey team as he gears up to partner dual Derby hero Lambourn, who will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing effort in the Great Voltigeur at York. Levey teamed up with Aidan O'Brien to land Britain's oldest Classic on Jan Brueghel twelve months ago.
The Ballydoyle trio will be rounded out by Great Voltigeur fourth Stay True, who is the mount of Mickael Barzalona, while Paddy Twomey's Queen's Vase winner Carmers adds further Irish depth as he looks to regain the winning thread after filling the runner-up in the Voltigeur.
Andrew Balding's Geoffrey Freer scorer Furthur looks the pick of the home challenge, although Roger Varian, who has twice landed the prize with Kingston Hill and Eldar Eldarov, saddles Rahiebb. Tarriance completes the field of seven.
Delacroix to face seven in Irish Champion
Aidan O'Brien's high-class three-year-old Delacroix will face seven rivals as he bids to get back to winning ways in Saturday's Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.
The son of Dubawi was disappointing when only ninth in the Epsom Derby earlier in the season but he quickly put that behind him when dropped to ten furlongs in Sandown's Coral-Eclipse Stakes a month later, battling on strongly up the hill to get the better of John and Thady Gosden's Ombudsman in the dying strides.
Ombudsman subsequently turned the tables in an eventful Juddmonte International Stakes at York, but with connections opting to wait for an autumn campaign with that rival, Delacroix will be sent off market leader to get back in the winners' circle.
Main rivals include Owen Burrows' 2024 Champion Stakes hero Anmaat, who will make his first outing since chasing home Ombudsman in this year's Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, while Japanese raider Shin Emperor will attempt to go a few spots better than when third to Economics in this race last season. White Birch, Royal Champion and Hotazhell add further depth to a top-class renewal.
Elsewhere on the card, Fallen Angel and January will do battle once more in the Matron Stakes, a race that also features the Coronation Stakes winner Cercene.
Green Spirit remains unbeaten with Longchamp success
Just 35 minutes after landing the opening Group 3 prize, the same owner, trainer and jockey combination enjoyed further success courtesy of the high-class filly Green Spirit, who stretched her record to four wins from as many starts with a dominant performance in the Group 2 Prix d'Aumale.
Moving up to 1600m on the back of a battling success in the Prix Six Perfections at Deauville last month, Green Spirit was out to advertise her Group 1 credentials for trainer Christophe Ferland and owners Wertheimer et Frère.
Settled off the pace of the quintet by Maxime Guyon, Christophe Ferland's daughter of Kingman travelled smoothly before being angled out for racing room at the two-and-a-half-furlong marker. It was at this point that the front-running Narissa kicked for home in an attempt to steal a march on her rivals and although it looked as she briefly might have slipped the field, Green Spirit was quickly on the case under Guyon.
With Guyon in full-cry, she picked up readily down the centre of the track, swooping past the longtime leader with ease in the final furlong to record a commanding one-and-a-quarter-length verdict. Clea Chope finished back in third.
