Lingfield attracts strong field

Recent Leopardstown winners Cupid and High King are Aidan O'Brien's entries for Saturday's Group Three Pertemps Derby Trial at Lingfield. The pair were among 15 colts entered yesterday.

They could clash with leading Vodafone Derby hopes Beat All and Daliapour. Epsom winner Daliapour, 10 to 1 second favourite for the Derby with Ladbrokes, bids to follow in the hoofprints of trainer Luca Cumani's Kahyasi and High-Rise, both of whom won this race before success in the premier Classic.

Blue Riband Trial Stakes winner Daliapour is on course for the race, Luca Cumani confirmed yesterday. "He's a nice horse and after Epsom we decided to go to Lingfield," said the trainer. "He's perfectly all right after Epsom and Gerald Mosse will come over to ride him again on Saturday.

"He doesn't compare with Kahyasi and High-Rise yet - but he will if he wins."

Michael Stoute has entered Beat All, quoted at 12 to 1 after lifting last week's Newmarket Stakes, and Thresher Classic Trial winner Fantastic Light in the 11 1/2-furlong event.

Also among the big entry - for a race which has not attracted a field of more than eight since 1983 - is the Ed Dunlop-trained Gtech Royal Lodge Stakes winner Mutaahab.

Entries: Beat All (M Stoute), Bomb ard (P Cole), Cupid (A O'Brien), Daliapour (L Cumani), Entertainer (P Chapple-Hyam), Fantastic Light M Stoute), High King (A O'Brien), Invader (C Brittain), Lucido (J Dunlop), Mutaahab (E Dunlop), Nowhere to Exit (J Dunlop), Royal Rebel (M Johnston), Salford Express (D Elsworth), Timahs (S bin Suroor), William shakespeare (B Hills) (15).

Meanwhile, leading amateur rider Noel Fehily will miss the remainder of the jumps season after breaking his arm in a fall. Fehily landed a double at Hereford on Saturday, but sustained his injury when coming to grief in a Mallow point-to-point on Sunday. He had two booked rides at Ludlow today for Charlie Mann, to whose yard he is attached.

The trainer said: "It's a blow to the yard that Noel will be out for the next six weeks as he'd been going extremely well.

"He's already decided to turn professional, and will be our conditional rider next season."

Goodwood has started watering the course in preparation for the inaugural running of the £400,000 Blue Square Shergar Cup on Saturday.

Clerk of the course Rod Fabricius said: "It's amazing that a week after Border Arrow and Rokeby Bowl worked here on ground that was good to soft, if not a bit softer, we are now having to water.

"At the moment the ground is good to firm."