Strong Irish challenge possible for Sprint Gordon Lord Byron's participation in this weekend's Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot is likely to be decided by trainer Tom Hogan on Wednesday. One of the favourites for the valuable Group Two, the globetrotting gelding was second to market leader G Force in the Haydock Sprint Cup and took the runner-up spot once again behind Olympic Glory when attempting to regain his title in this month's Prix de la Foret at Longchamp. Speaking at the Tattersalls sales in Newmarket, Hogan said: "I'm going to walk the track and then I'll decide. If it's very heavy, then he won't run. We'd then be looking at Hong Kong." Trainer Evanna McCutcheon is hoping the application of a blindfold will help Gordon Lord Byron's Irish compatriot Maarek jump off on terms. The seven-year-old showed a good attitude to claim the Group Two contest in 2012 and has since struck at Group One level in last year's Prix de l'Abbaye. He went back to Paris earlier this month, but completely blew the start, costing him all chance of a repeat success. McCutcheon is confident her stable star is returning to Berkshire at the top of his game and is anticipating a bold show - as long as he gets the start right. McCutcheon said: ''He's actually been running well all year. The stalls have just been his bogey card. "We're going to do a bit of work on that before Saturday, but it's difficult as he's a horse who does nothing until he's in a race situation. "We're going to put a blindfold on him on Saturday, so we'll see if that makes a difference, but we won't know until he's in the stalls and the flag goes up. "We've booked Jamie Spencer to ride, so it's the same combination that won the race two years ago. "Hopefully we can get the same result."
