Yeats faces top field in Gold Cup hat-trick bid

RACING NEWS:YEATS IS a heavy 6 to 4 favourite to complete an Ascot Gold Cup hat-trick on Thursday but Aidan O'Brien's star stayer will have to face down an international field in the day-three Ascot feature.

A total of 15 horses were left in the Gold Cup at yesterday's forfeit stage and O'Brien has also left both Septimus and Honolulu in the two and a half mile event.

Also among the possibles are the French star Coastal Path who could be joined by the German runner Le Miracle as well as the South African star Thundering Star.

Yeats is on the verge of becoming just the second horse in the Gold Cup's long history to win the race for a third time.

Lester Piggott rode Sagaro to a hat-trick between 1975-77 but Yeats looks like having a third different jockey in three years at Ascot with John Murtagh set to ride him for the first time. Kieren Fallon won in 2006 while Michael Kinane was in the hot-seat last year.

Both the beaten Epsom Oaks favourite Lush Lashes and the Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Mad About You are among the 18 entries remaining in next week's Ribblesdale Stakes.

Other Irish interest could come from among a five-strong Aidan O'Brien squad that includes Kitty Matcham.

This evening's home action is an all-jumps card at Limerick where the Brendan Duke-trained Huntingdon winner Minster Benedictine provides a British element to the conditions chase.

The in-form veteran Kerryhead Windfarm will be a danger to Daryll Jacob's mount but maybe not as much as the highly-promising Salford City who is proving very effective on the prevailing ground conditions.

Pillar Of Hercules won well at Wexford on his last start and is rated to get the better of Armaramak in the conditions hurdle while the Ballinrobe third Qeethaara can use that experience to land the bumper.

ASCOT GOLD CUP BETTING: (Paddy Power):6-4 Yeats, 3 Coastal Path, 4 Septimus, 12 Geordieland and Sagara, 14 Honolulu, 16 Allegretto, 20 Bar.