Thursday 17 August 2017 11:11, UK
Roger Varian's progressive colt Defoe puts his William Hill St Leger prospects on the line in the Betfred Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.
The son of Dalakhani is unbeaten in three starts this term, culminating with success in the Listed Glasgow Stakes at Hamilton four weeks ago.
Another possible runner in the final Classic of the season at Doncaster next month is Horseplay. Winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket in May, the Andrew Balding-trained filly was fourth to Enable in the Investec Oaks and filled the same position behind Strathspey in the Prix de Malleret at Saint-Cloud.
Those two are the only three-year-olds in the nine-runner field.
Leading the seniors is Charlie Appleby's five-year-old Frontiersman, runner-up in both the Coronation Cup and the Princess of Wales's Stakes.
Agent Murphy bids to repeat his 2015 success in this race, but Brian Meehan's charge has to overcame an absence of 539 days.
Completing the line-up are John Gosden's Listed winner To Eternity, Hugo Palmer's duo of Crimean Tatar and Wall Of Fire, Mick Channon's Harlequeen and Irish challenger The Tartan Spartan, trained by Pat Shanahan.
The three withdrawals at the 48-hour final declaration stage were Elidor, Call To Mind and Count Octave.
