Fahey is undecided over stable star

The unbeaten colt has landed bumper pay-outs for connections at York and Doncaster on his last two starts.

He is not Fahey's only possible for the six-furlong dash, the North Yorkshire handler having left in six others – Arctic Feeling, El Viento, Jamesway, Sir Reginald, Chiswick Bey and Premier Clarets.

David Evans has the Curragh Group Three winner Dingle View plus Just For Leo and Torteval.

Other hopefuls include Black Moth, Codemaster, Sings In The Sand, Crown Prosecutor, Krypton Factor, Sikeeb and Ladies Are Forever.

Wootton Bassett also holds an entry in the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp on Sunday.

Fahey will monitor ground conditions both in France and England before making a decision.

"I'm not sure what I'm doing to be honest," he said. "Wootton Bassett's in at Longchamp on Sunday and Sir Reginald's in at Newmarket on Saturday so I really haven't an idea what I'll be running at Redcar yet.

"They are saying it could be very soft ground over in Longchamp so that would sway me to stay here."

Connections of Youmzain are more than hopeful the veteran can better his second place in each of the last three runnings of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when he returns to Longchamp on Sunday.

The string of near-misses by Mick Channon's stable stalwart began in 2007 when he found Dylan Thomas too good by a head, and Zarkava got the better of him in 2008 and Sea The Stars proved himself a real champion last year.

With Sea The Stars absent this time, there is an air of confidence in the Youmzain camp – added to which Richard Hughes, who was in the plate three years ago, has been booked for the ride.

Bruce Raymond, racing manager to Youmzain's owner Jaber Abdullah, said: "Richard is very much looking forward to riding Youmzain and if he were to run as well as he has in any of the last three Arcs we think we can win."

Youmzain is a 16-1 chance to be only the second seven-year-old in history, after Motrico in 1932, to win the Paris showpiece.

Aidan O'Brien could be double-handed, with the trainer weighing up whether to let Cape Blanco join Fame And Glory in the line-up.

The latter was beaten into sixth at Longchamp last season but has won his last four racecourse appearances and is as short as 7-2.

Cape Blanco was a brilliant winner of the Irish Champion Stakes on his latest appearance and while he is available at double-figure odds, that is likely to shorten if his participation is confirmed.

"The plan is to go there with Fame And Glory and everything has been well with him. Everything is so far, so good and we're happy," said O'Brien.

"We're also looking at it with Cape Blanco so obviously there is a little bit of work to do and we'll see what this week will bring."

Ante-post favourite Nationalism features among 79 remaining entries in the totesport.com Cambridgeshire at Newmarket on Saturday.

The three-year-old colt was a hugely impressive winner on his handicap debut at Goodwood at the start of the month and will line up in this weekend's valuable contest under a penalty.

His trainer John Gosden is bidding to win the prize for the third time in the last four years and he could also saddle High Twelve and Taqleed.

Other leading contenders, such as Luca Cumani's Start Right, Barry Hills's recent York winner Ransom Note and Walter Swinburn's hat-trick seeking Absinthe all remain in the reckoning.

Shrewd Irish trainer Tony Martin could saddle Pires, while other interesting contenders include Proponent and Sarrsar.

Stan James have signed a five-year deal to sponsor the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival as well as three trial races along the way.

The two-mile Grade One contest will be run as the Stan James Champion Hurdle in March, and the bookmaker will also sponsor the StanJames.com Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, the StanJames.com International at Cheltenham in December and the StanJames.com Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock in January.