Sousa to start ban
is a speedy individual, trained by Karl Burke, who will be primed for this. He is steadily improving, having won at Nottingham, before finishing third in the 5½f Group Two Prix Robert Papin at Maison-Lafitte to Signora Cabello in July. A month later he chased home Pretty Pollyanna and the Robert Papin winner Signora Cabello in the Group One Prix Morny. He was second in the 6f Mill Reef Stakes to Kessar on his latest run. A return to 5f will surely suit Burke’s charge.
finished third in the Coventry Stakes. The race was fought out by two top-class juveniles in Calyx, who has not run since, and Advertise, who has gone on to win the July Stakes and the Group One Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh. A return to that form will see him in the shake-up. Five-furlong specialist
has more speed than some and can finish in the placings. French import
has taken a while to find his feet after losing his way before arriving at the William Haggas yard after nearly a year off the course. Since then he has won three out of five, including a fine 4½l win in a Listed race at Newbury last month. And while this is a clear step up in class, that performance puts him in the mix and further improvement is expected. on his very best form, would win this, but is not quite the horse he once was. Having said that, the six-year-old gelding trotted up in this race last year and has won impressively at this level twice this season. Sure to be thereabouts. is an obvious threat.
*%'' (treble) MANKIB SILVESTRE DE SOUSA is due to be crowned champion jockey for the third time at Ascot on Champions Day a week on Saturday but begins a lengthy
18-day suspension on the same day.
Fortunately for De Sousa, the ban ends in time for him to ride Withhold in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 6.
Under the totting-up procedure the Brazilian was banned by a disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority for using his whip above the permitted level on too many occasions within a six-month period.
While the focus will be on Champions Day De Sousa will be on the sidelines and will also miss October 23-27 and October
29-November 3.
De Sousa already had an interference ban which ruled him out on October 16, 18, 19 and 22.
De Sousa’s agent, Shelley Dwyer, said: “As much as it is a pain missing Champions Day, it is what it is – that’s the totting-up system.”
Danny Tudhope will also miss Champions Day for the same reason. He was handed a 21-day suspension, with seven deferred. The ban runs from October 19 to November 2.