ACOMB TESTER FOR CHAPPLE-HYAM

Peter Chapple-Hyam looks to continue his mini-revival with a big-race winner as Al Khan takes on a host of unknown quantities in the sportingbet.com Acomb Stakes at York on Wednesday.

The popular Chapple-Hyam is operating at a minor fraction of the scale of his 90s pomp when Classics came like London buses, but the stable is flying at the moment with three winners and others running well over the last week.

Al Khan collected a maiden at Doncaster last month but faces other well-regarded recent winners like Furner's Green, Balty Boys and Entifaadha in the seven-furlong Group Three.

"It's a very tough race - I wish I'd run him somewhere else really!" said Chapple-Hyam.

"He's a horse I like a lot and he has obviously improved since Doncaster but he'll need to as there's going to be no hiding place.

"However, we have got to find out how good he is."

Furner's Green leads a three-strong team from Aidan O'Brien's stable.

O'Brien's son Joseph steered the son of Dylan Thomas to a three-length defeat of stablemate and Acomb rival Battle Of Saratoga at Tipperary, with fourth-placed East Meets West also making the trip from Ireland.

Both the other runners were beaten by Strait Of Zanzibar in the Hurricane Run Stakes back at Tipperary this month.

"I rode him in his maiden at Tipperary, where he won nicely," said Joseph O'Brien.

"He's a nice horse and I'm looking forward to it."

Seamie Heffernan, who takes the mount on Battle Of Saratoga, added: "We've got three nice colts in the race. My fellow ran second at Tipperary last time and the horse that Colm O'Donoghue rides (East Meets West) ran in the same race and looked a bit unlucky in third.

"I'd imagine Joseph's horse is the classiest of the three, but all of them are well and you have to run them when you can."

Barry Hills saddles the final runners of his career this week before handing over his famous Lambourn yard to son Charlie next Monday.

The trainer's representative is Balty Boys, who runs in the colours of Sir Alex Ferguson and collected a maiden at Newbury in fluent style last time.

Charlie Hills said: "I think the step up to seven furlongs will really suit this horse. He has plenty of speed, as he showed when winning his maiden, and he is a colt we have always liked."

Richard Hannon's Fort Bastion is given another chance at a high level, despite being without a win in three starts so far.

"Sir Robert Ogden loves having runners at York so this was always the target. He is a maiden taking on 10 previous winners at level weights, but he is a very good maiden, I promise you," the trainer insisted on www.richardhannonracing.tv.

"On his second to 1000 Guineas favourite Maybe in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot, Fort Bastion would have a serious chance, and you can forget his last run in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket as the riding instructions must have got lost in transit.

"Hughesie (Richard Hughes) was banned, so Olivier Peslier rode, and, while I hate blaming jockeys, this was pilot error. OK, he missed the break, but he never got competitive at any stage, and it was a wasted run. We think that Fort Bastion is a decent horse, and, hopefully, he'll prove that here."

Brian Meehan's Archbishop won his only start over the same distance at Sandown late last month and the trainer reported on his website: "Most observers will deduce that he is likely to develop into a smart performer, as that is often the case when our juveniles win first time on the big tracks and we believe and hope that it is. Great chance of a follow-up, albeit in face of potentially smart opponents."

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