There are five Flat meetings in Britain today with the action coming from Ayr, Yarmouth, Pontefract, Chelmsford (aw evening) and Southwell (aw evening).
The William Hill Ayr Festival gets underway and the feature race is the Listed Doonside Cup Stakes (1m2f).
The Michael Appleby-trained Big Country is among the runners and the six-year-old is making a quick reappearance having finished an encouraging sixth at Doncaster last week.
Perhaps the biggest danger will be the Keith Dalgleish-trained What’s The Story, who was last seen taking Clipper Logistics Handicap (1m) at York by a head from Vale Of Kent.
At Belmont Park this evening, the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory Handicap Hurdle (2m4f) will see jockey Rachael Blackmore reunite with Bedrock. Blackmore partnered the six-year-old to victory in the Grade 2 WKD Hurdle (defeating Samcro) and Grade 3 Horse & Jockey Hotel Hurdle last year.
Jack Doyle, now based in the States, will partner Redicean, formerly in the care of Alan King before joining Leslie Young earlier this year, while Thomas Garner is aboard the dual Grade 1-winning Winston C.
New stakes winner for Farhh
Despite not having been seen since finishing second to Magna Grecia in the 2,000 Guineas in May, King Of Change showed no ill effects from an extended break as he took the Listed Chasemore Farm Fortune Stakes (1m) at Sandown on Wednesday.
Richard Hannon’s colt hit the front under Sean Levey just over a furlong from home and he stayed on well to beat Turgenev by one and a quarter lengths, with a further length and a half to Silver Line in third.
King Of Change, owned by Ali Abdulla Saeed and bred by Rabbah Bloodstock, is the eighth stakes scorer for his sire Farhh, the Lockinge and Champion Stakes winner who stands at Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud.
Now Look At Me retained by George
Trainer Tom George went to £75,000 to keep promising hurdler Now Look At Me during the horses-in-training session that concluded the Goffs UK September Sale on Wednesday.
The five-year-old was part of a dispersal of horses from owners Paul and Clare Rooney, who announced last month they were cutting down on the number of horses they have in training to focus on “quality over quantity”.
The two days of trade saw 233 of the 291 lots catalogued sell for £2,335,000, an average of £10,107, and a median of £7,000.
Gestut Fahrhof to downsize mare band
One of Germany’s leading studs, Gestut Fahrhof, is to cut back on its broodmare band.
The decision, which was made by the board and management of the stud, means mares that have been used to support the operation’s stallions in recent years will be sold on.
The stud has entered more than 20 horses for the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale.
Happy Valley meeting cancelled
The Hong Kong Jockey Club made the decision to cancel Wednesday’s meeting at Happy Valley due to “the imminent threat to the safety of racegoers, jockeys and employees, and to the welfare of racehorses” following political unrest in the country.
In a statement, the HKJC said: “In organising race meetings, the Club always put safety as a top priority. It is our responsibility to ensure that racehorses, racegoers, jockeys and employees are safe at all times.
“The Club has been monitoring the situation in Hong Kong closely. It had conducted a thorough risk assessment of the race meeting and concluded that it should be cancelled in order to preserve the security and safety of people and horses.”