RACING NEWS:NEW APPROACH could lead a three-pronged Irish attack into Saturday's Emirates Airlines Champion Stakes and he has been installed as a hot favourite to bridge a 28-year gap for the visitors.

On one of the last remaining major dates in the British flat calendar, there will also be major Irish interest in the Dewhurst Stakes where Aidan O'Brien's 2,000 Guineas ante-post favourite, Rip Van Winkle, will put his unbeaten record on the line.

"The plan is for Rip to run and if he does he will be our only runner," O'Brien said yesterday after leaving a total of eight entries in the race.

Just a dozen possible runners remain in the Champion after yesterday's forfeit stage which was missed by the Henry Cecil-trained Phoenix Tower who has been retired due to injury.

They include O'Brien's sole hope Hebridean, who is an intended starter, as well as the French Derby runner-up, Famous Name, from Dermot Weld's yard.

The Michael Cunningham-trained Cairn Rouge was the last Irish-trained winner of the Newmarket feature in 1980. The 10-furlong event was also famously won by Hurry Harriet in 1973 and by Sir Ivor five years previously to that.

New Approach has been the subject of an upbeat bulletin from trainer Jim Bolger who reported: "It has been a month since his last race but his work has been very good."

Victory for the Derby winner on Saturday would be a fifth Group One success in New Approach's career, the second of which came in last year's Dewhurst.

A total of 24 entries remain in this weekend's Dewhurst renewal and they are dominated by the eight from O'Brien as he tries to add to his sole success in Britain's most coveted juvenile prize with Rock Of Gibraltar seven years ago.

"The plan is for Rip to run but if for some reason he didn't we could run some others," O'Brien said.

"Westphalia is one of the eight but at the moment he could run instead in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile race on turf."

That contest is also an option for David Wachman's dual-Group One winner, Bushranger, who remains among the Dewhurst entries.

"We will leave all options open," Wachman reported yesterday. "I don't believe the trip will be a concern.

"I've always thought he stays well personally but there is only one way to find out. We are lucky to have him. He's a simple horse to train."

The Bolger team are seeking a hat-trick of Dewhurst victories with Intense Focus set to try and follow in the hoofprints of New Approach and Teofilo. "I'm hoping he will develop into a Guineas horse," Bolger said.

Potential opposition for the Irish horses include Richard Hannon's Goffs Million winner Soul City as well as Huntdown who was supplemented into the race yesterday. John Gosden's horse was placed behind Bushranger in the Middle Park on his last start. The Mill Reef winner Lord Shankill is also an intended starter.

There will also be major Irish interest in the Group Two Pride Stakes on Saturday with the St Leger runner-up, Unsung Heroine, likely to be joined by the Bolger supplementary entry Shreyas and possibly some of a four-strong entry from Ballydoyle that includes the Irish Oaks runner-up Ice Queen.

"The plan is to run," said Fozzy Stack of Unsung Heroine. "She wouldn't want rock hard ground but if she can get her toe in a little bit she should be fine."

The black type feature at Cork this Saturday will be the Listed Navigation Stakes over a mile. The 17 entries include the 114-rated Jumbajukiba, who finished eight lengths off Psalm on his last start at Tipperary.