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Unraced as a two-year-old, he looked unlikely to be up there with Stoute's superstars when, after two second places at Kempton and Nottingham last year, and he could do no more than land the odds in an ordinary maiden at Brighton a year ago to the day, albeit by nine lengths from Flame Creek.

As I've already said on numerous occasions, Stoute is in a different class when it comes to bringing about massive improvement in late-developing horses. Red Gala looks another one straight out of that mould.

He made his seasonal bow at Newbury in April and wiped the floor with Luca Cumani's current Cesarewitch favourite Samurai Way, racing prominently then quickening up nicely for Frankie Dettori to score with a bit in hand. More>>

Championship Point headed the handicap but has been taken out.

That leaves Walter Swinburn's charge on 9st 11lb to give weight all round in his attempt to improve on his third place 12 months ago. He is drawn four.

Most of the leading lights have stood their ground, although John Gosden has warned that Pipedreamer will only run if the ground is suitable. The Newmarket-based handler is concerned about the drying conditions.

Gosden has another top contender in Escape Route, who is drawn high in stall 34. Pipedreamer has been allocated 11.

Drawn next to Escape Route in 35 is another of the ante-post favourites, Luca Cumani's Monte Alto. More>>

Murphy's inmate will be accompanied by Sybellius D'Artaix, trained by his son, Paul, and Three Mill, handled by Champion Hurdle-winning trainer John Carr.

Ivoire de Beaulieu was purchased from France with the intention of competing in the cross-country races at Cheltenham, but the handicapper has since made life difficult.

"The first time he ran at Cheltenham he won and then he won over hurdles at Sedgefield - but then he got walloped by the handicapper," explained Murphy.

"He has struggled a bit since then but he has travelled over great.

"We had this race in mind for him all along so we had him in quite early this year. More>>

A sports and leisure horse in Tasmania returned a positive test to EI on Thursday but a second test produced a negative result.

Tasmanian racing went into total lockdown with no training permitted yesterday morning until a third, definitive test was taken, which also proved negative.

It might sound like only a small piece of luck, but the Victorian racing industry will grab it gladly.

The participants in Victoria's billion-dollar Melbourne Cup carnival are on tenterhooks. Theirs is the only eastern seaboard state to stay free of the horrendous EI and they're hoping in remains so, at least until the spring carnival is over. More>>

Although the pair's careers have followed vastly different paths since and Teslin has moved from Mark Johnston to Brian Ellison, he could now enjoy a big day of his own back at the track in next month's totesport.com Cambridgeshire.

Teslin (5-2 joint-favourite) had accounted for Monte Alto - winner of the John Smith's Stakes at Newbury a little earlier in the day - last time and given a sterling ride by Jean-Pierre Guillambert, he beat Urban Spirit by three-quarters of a length.

Ellison's daughter Lorraine said: "He just does enough when in front and is still a bit of a baby. More>>

And that includes plenty of trainers from New South Wales and Queensland, where EI has halted almost all harness racing.

With the Australian racing economy set to be devastated by the outbreak in those two states, it would have been understandable if Australian trainers were tightening their belts.

Instead, they now see New Zealand as one of the few places they can buy horses so they can be ready to attack when racing returns in their home states.

"The Australian interest has really blown us away," said PGG Wrightsons sales spokesperson Rachel Deegan.

"While this sale is getting more popular every year we didn't expect as much Australian interest as this. More>>