Distant Storm bidding to give Appleby another Dewhurst

Distant Storm will attempt to give Charlie Appleby back-to-back victories in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes after he headlined the nine declarations for Newmarket’s feature event on Saturday.

Appleby has sent out both Pinatubo (2019) and Native Trail (2021) as well as last year’s hero Shadow Of Light to win Newmarket’s final Group One of the season in recent years and will have high hopes of another successful afternoon on the Rowley Mile.

Distant Storm advertised his top-level claims when bolting up in the Tattersalls Stakes over course and distance last month and will be joined in the race by Moulton Paddocks stablemates Pacific Avenue and Saba Desert, as Appleby assembles a three-strong hand.

Zavateri will put his unbeaten record to the test in a National Stakes rematch with Gstaad after Eve Johnson Houghton’s youngster successfully went into the lion’s den in Ireland last month

The 35,000 guineas buy will once again lock horns with Aidan O’Brien’s high-class Royal Ascot winner, as well as Ballydoyle stablemate Italy, who was back in third at the Curragh.

Karl Burke’s Alparslan won a valuable sales race on the same afternoon in Ireland and is now pitched into deeper waters, while John and Thady Gosden’s Oxagon and Andrew Balding’s Gewan who finished second and fourth to Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere hero Puerto Rico at Doncaster, complete the line-up.

There are no notable defections from the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap where Tony Martin’s defending champion Alphonse Le Grande heads the betting from Willie Mullins’ Hipop De Loire and Charles Byrnes’ wide-margin trial winner Reverend Hubert.

The 2023 winner The Shunter, now 12, is also among 21 declarations.