Of all the various categories of qualifiers, few if any, could be more wide open at this stage than the older classic horses that compete for top honors in the Queen Elizabeth Classic Qualifiers. Even now that most of the regular participants have had three or four runs it is hard to pick a standout with any confidence.

A high quality field lined up for the latest Newbury Colts Sprint Qualifier including some of the best well-established names along with some younger talent looking to make their mark in this category.

What makes these Challenge Series races so great is often more than just the fantastic prize money on offer. Ok, that helps a lot but there is more to it than that. It is about the competition and when the stakes are high, the competition is usually at its greatest. Nothing provides greater competition than an ongoing rivalry between old foes.

In the latest round of Cesarewitch Qualifiers for 4-7yo Colts, three of the major players accounted for no less than eleven of the fourteen runner field. Shotgun_mike was represented by four, Queen Bee also had four and there were three for Sky Castle Stables.

Perhaps 220om was a distance short of her best or perhaps the fast dirt surface was less than ideal but Goddess Of Heaven could manage only sixth place on her racecourse debut.