Came From The Dark to miss Champions Day

Came From The Dark has been ruled out of next month's Qipco British Champions Sprint at Ascot due to the recurrence of an injury.

The Ed Walker-trained gelding was found to be suffering from a ligament problem in his hock earlier this year but recovered to claim the Group Three Coral Charge at Sandown in July.

Walker has now confirmed the problem has flared up once again, with the five-year-old having undergone surgery — meaning he will miss Champions Day and will not return to action until next year.

Walker said: "Unfortunately, it reoccurred after that race [at Sandown].

"So I've had to draw stumps with him. He's had surgery and is out for the year."

Marquand talks up Starman for Sprint Cup

Jockey Tom Marquand believes Starman will be "hard to beat" during Saturday's Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock if he can replicate the form he showed when winning the July Cup.

Starman was an impressive winner at Newmarket and he will now bid to become just the third horse this century to also win the Sprint Cup in the same year, following in the footsteps of Dream Ahead (2011) and Harry Angel (2017).

The Archie Watson-trained Glen Shiel and Tim Easterby's Art Power are expected to be the main challengers.

But Marquand, who will be in the saddle on Saturday, believes the Ed Walker-trained four-year-old will take some stopping.

He said: "Starman showed the best sprinting form in Europe this year when he won the July Cup. If he can reproduce that he's going to be hard to beat." 

Harrington fined for Galway mix-up

Trainer Jessica Harrington has been fined after a mix-up at the Galway Festival saw the wrong horse land a two-year-old maiden.

It had initially appeared that Alizarine had marked her racecourse debut by winning the Colm Quinn BMW Irish EBF Fillies Maiden in July.

But it later transpired a case of mistaken identity had seen three-year-old Aurora Princess run and win in her place.

The Galway stewards disqualified the winner, handing the victory instead to favourite Twinkle, while Aurora Princess was also declared a non-runner for a Handicap later on the same card — the race she was originally intended to run in.

Harrington apologised on the day for the mistake, which she put down to "human error".

Following a hearing of the referrals committee of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, she has now been fined.

Corazon delivers for Boughey in France

George Boughey's decision to step Corazon up considerably in class has paid off after she won the Group Three Prix d'Arenberg at ParisLongchamp on Thursday.

The two-year-old was making just her third career start and first on turf following her maiden victory at Lingfield last month.

But she did not disappoint under the stewardship of jockey Mickael Barzalona, claiming the win by a neck from Dizzy Bizu.

That also marked a second Group Three success for trainer Boughey, who is enjoying a breakthrough season, and he is now eyeing a possible further step up in class for Corazon in next week's Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster's St Leger meeting.

The trainer said: "It wouldn't be a surprise to see her get an entry in the Flying Childers — I know that's a quick back-up, but it is a Group Two."