Queen to reign at Pontefract

Following a pulsating week at Royal Ascot, the racing action steps down a gear on Sunday, with the Sky Bet Sunday Series Pontefract Castle Fillies' Stakes the main attraction.

With valuable black type up for grabs, the mile-and-a-half contest has unsurprisingly attracted a competitive field, with several high-profile trainers saddling runners in search of Listed honours.

Among them is Roger Varian, who may well secure victory courtesy of Voodoo Queen.

The Frankel filly won a Rowley Mile maiden and a July Course handicap in her hometown of Newmarket last season before finishing a creditable fifth behind the high-class Haskoy in the Galtres Stakes at York.

Her next couple of runs were a little underwhelming, but she showed her true colours back on fast ground at York last month when beaten just a length into third place in the Group Three Bronte Cup.

That career-best effort earned her a 5lb hike in the weights to a mark of 98, which puts her right in the mix in West Yorkshire and a slight drop in distance should not be an issue.

Whoop Whoop can make it third time lucky in the opening Race To A Cure For MND EBF Fillies' Restricted Novice Stakes.

Ralph Beckett's juvenile has finished fourth in each of her two starts to date and the form of her first effort was extremely well advertised at the Royal meeting.

On her debut at Salisbury she was beaten four lengths by Relief Rally, who was touched off by a nose in the Queen Mary on Thursday. The Salisbury runner-up, Juniper Berries, was fourth in the same race.

Whoop Whoop then headed for Kempton, where she finished two lengths behind a useful looking winner in Hellfire Bay, and she will not need to improve much if at all to get off the mark.

Blow Your Horn looks poised to complete his hat-trick in the Sky Bet Sunday Series Pontefract Cup.

The six-year-old was rated as high as 89 a couple of years ago, and has made the most of marks in the low 70s to win at Doncaster and Beverley already this month.

He was good value for the winning margin of three-quarters of a length on the Westwood a fortnight ago and a 4lb rise to a rating of 76 looks more than fair.

Merlin The Wizard rates the best bet at Ffos Las in the 3As Leisure Handicap.

The Camelot gelding ran well enough in his first couple of races to suggest he was capable of winning races and sure enough he hit the bullseye with a neck success at Kempton.

He enters the handicap sphere on a perch of 83 and can strike gold again under Hollie Doyle.

Brian Hughes rarely leaves Hexham without a winner and can add to his tally aboard the Rebecca Menzies-trained Imperial Data in the View Our Static Caravans Maiden Hurdle.

A point-to-point winner in Ireland in the spring, the six-year-old ran a race full of promise when runner-up to stablemate Harper Valley on his debut under rules here last month.

Harper Valley was a hot favourite that day, having previously been placed in a couple of decent novice hurdles, so for Imperial Data to get within a length of him was a fair effort.

The booking of the champion jockey suggests connections are optimistic he can go one better on his return to Northumberland. - Press Association

SELECTIONS:

FFOS LAS: 15.00 Kitty Bennet, 15.30 Notre Maison, 16.05 Vape, 16.35 Denis Anthony, 17.05 Merlin The Wizard, 17.35 Sympathise, 18.05 Red Royalist.

HEXHAM: 14.45 Burnage Boy, 15.15 Classic Lady, 15.45 Imperial Data, 16.20 Lord Caprio, 16.53 Guinness Affair, 17.23 Cilluirid, 17.53 J C International.

PONTEFRACT: 16.45 Whoop Whoop, 17.15 Prophet's Dream, 17.45 Voodoo Queen, 18.15 BLOW YOUR HORN (NAP), 18.45 Geremia, 19.15 Concorde, 19.45 Mojomaker.