No British trainer has proven more adept at plundering big prizes Down Under than William Haggas and he has ambitious plans for one of the Royal Family’s horses.

Desert Hero gave King Charles an enormous thrill at Royal Ascot in June 2023, when coming with a thundering late run to take the King George V Handicap; he went onto win the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood before performing with huge distinction in the St Leger at Doncaster.

Things never quite worked out for Desert Hero last summer and the gelding has not been seen on course since finishing down the field in the Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting last June but he has been working with zest of late and will form part of a team that Haggas sends to Australia.

Haggas has enjoyed his forays to Sydney and has won several Group One prizes at their spring carnival; he also landed a huge pot last October with Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s colt Lake Forest, who won the A$10million Golden Eagle.

There are certainly opportunities for Desert Hero, whom Haggas considered running in the Melbourne Cup at one stage. He will be joining in the travelling squad from Somerville Stables by stablemates Al Mubhir, Marama and seasoned traveller Dubai Honour.

Closer to home, Haggas is already thinking about Royal Ascot for stable star Economics. The colt was a brilliant winner of the Dante Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes last season, along with Deauville’s Prix Guillaume d’Ornano, but flopped in the QIPCO Champion Stakes on his last start in October.

King Charles and Queen Camilla pictured at the trophy presentation after the race at Ascot

The King was thrilled at seeing the horse’s thundering run to the finish at the famous course

Economics had blood coming from his nostril that afternoon but Haggas is a master at getting horses back to their peak and he is itching at the prospect of letting the colt loose on good, summer ground when all the top mile-and-a-quarter races will be on his agenda.

Tempting price for Henderson’s horse at Cheltenham 

Nicky Henderson was busy preaching caution at his Seven Barrows yard earlier this week, wisely explaining that there is no form of guarantee in racing.

Henderson, the master trainer, is long odds-on to add to his 73 Festival wins at Cheltenham next month and with aces to play such as Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle, Jonbon in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Lulumba in the JCB Triumph Hurdle it is likely to be four fruitful days.

Sometimes when you go on these stable visits, you pick up vibes around certain horses and there was definite positivity around the prospects of Lucky Place, who has won both his starts this season and is being aimed at the Stayers Hurdle.

The trip of three miles is an unknown quantity but Henderson emitted great confidence that Lucky Place will not run out of stamina and that he was not frightened of taking on market leaders Teahupoo and Home By The Lee. He remains 8/1 for the Stayers. It’s a tempting price.

Race chiefs’ change paying dividends 

The Jockey Club made a big decision last year when replacing traditional birch hurdles at Cheltenham and Aintree with a new padded foam alternative. From behind, they are white in appearance, rather than the orange you would usually expect.

Nicky Henderson could be in for a fruitful Cheltenham Festival with the likes of Constitution Hill (pictured)

The orange hurdles at Cheltenham and Aintree were changed after a decision by the Jockey Club 

Horse welfare was paramount in their thoughts, with the new obstacles – which cost close to £1,000 – deemed to be 11 per cent safer than the ones that went before and that has certainly proven to be the case, with significantly fewer fallers than in previous seasons.

Aside from that, though, they have also reaped dividends economically. At this stage of last season, close to 100 hurdles had been smashed during races at Cheltenham and it was a considerable cost to replace them. So far in the current campaign, only 11 have been broken across nine racing days.

The best example is this: when Constitution Hill ploughed through the last flight during the Unibet International Hurdle on January 25, he hit the panel at such force and speed it should have been destroyed and he should have fallen. Both, happily, came away unscathed.

York making major moves 

Ambition is constantly in the thoughts of William Derby, York’s forward thinking chief executive. He has been striving to make the SkyBet Ebor Festival the essential meeting of late summer and his hard work has paid off.

Derby has been determined that the fixture in August should have a Group One race each day. The Juddmonte International, arguably the best race run on the flat last season when City Of Troy beat Calandagan, Ghostwriter and subsequent Arc winner Bluestocking, is the pinnacle on the Wednesday.

The Yorkshire Oaks (Thursday) and The Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes (Friday) have been long established but Derby wanted to make The City Of York Stakes, over seven furlongs, the fourth jewel in the crown and the European Pattern Committee have agreed to raise the race to the highest level.

It is a specialist distance but York have also bought the Criterion Stakes, which used to be run on Newmarket’s July Course, and plan to use it as a pathway to the new Group One – they will stage the Group Three for the first time on June 28.

York racecourse is at the pinnacle of the sport after buying a key race on the circuit

A visit to York never disappoints, in terms of its ease of access with great transport links, the ability to move around the course in comfort and see all the action plus the wide range of options for refreshments. The elevation of the City Of York Stakes shows why York is at the pinnacle.

Super Saturday on racing calendar 

Plenty of racing on Saturday, with big meetings in England and Ireland providing pointers to the Randox Grand National. It will be fascinating to see what happens in the Fairyhouse’s Bobbyjo Chase, won last year by subsequent Aintree hero I Am Maximus, and the Ladbrokes Chase at Kempton.

Keep your eye, though, on events in Saudi Arabia. The world’s richest race, the Saudi Cup, is being staged and the hot favourite is Romantic Warrior, who has been unbeatable in his native Hong Kong and has the finishing kick of an Olympic sprinter.

The ambition in Saudi is to make this meeting the pre-eminent fixture in the Middle East and, one day, the world. It received a massive fillip last year when Sir Alex Ferguson’s horse Spirit Dancer won the Neom Turf Cup and a win for Romantic Warrior would be similarly beneficial for its global appeal.