Racing is often accused of being stuck in a time warp.
Twenty-five years ago the maroon-and-white colours of Sheikh Mohammed were a ubiquitous sight until he founded the Godolphin stable and carried by the likes of Oh So Sharp, Pebbles and Singspiel, Now following an absence of 10 years in the UK, they have returned after the sheikh handed them to his daughter, Sheikha Al Jalila, and Royal Line carries them in the Betfred November Handicap at Doncaster today.
Royal Line was the first winner for the new owner when he made a belated debut at Windsor in September. The three-year-old followed up at Haydock later that month but was last of three when going for the hat-trick at Newbury over an extended one mile and five furlongs two weeks ago.
John Gosden put that defeat down the longer distance and is expecting a better performance back at a mile and a half and the trainer said. "He found the trip a little bit too far last time at Newbury, but he's in good form and the ground should suit."
Unowhatimeanharry makes an early reappearance in a two-and-a-half-mile hurdle at Aintree.
The nine-year-old has won nine of his 10 starts for trainer Harry Fry, with his sole defeat coming when third to Nichols Canyon in last season's Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival but Unowhatimeanharry turned the form around with Nichols Canyon when winning at Punchestown in April.
Fry had been planning to begin Unowhatimeanharry’s season in the Grade Two Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on December 2nd but, such is the horse’s well-being, there has been a change of plan. "Aintree wasn't on the radar, but he's so well at home and this race fits in nicely," Fry said. "He's got an 8lb penalty, but it will certainly be nice to see him back in action and we're looking forward to it."
Might Bite faces just three opponents in the Future Stars Intermediate Chase at Sandown Park tomorrow.
He was the dominant force in the staying novice chase division last season, winning the RSA Chase at Cheltenham in March.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here