Johnston and Fahey are looking red hot to set the Festival alight

Johnston, who saddled an incredible 14 winners in three days, saddles course winner Declamation in tonight’s feature Infinity Ecomax Tyres Handicap while Kindanyce and Cosmic Halo represent Fahey in the opening two races.

Malton-based Fahey remains buoyed by the success of Peniaphobia in the fiercely competitive Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury on Saturday under his former stable jockey Paul Hanagan.

Victory was vindication of Fahey’s belief that this was the ideal race for the 5-1 winner, who had bypassed a trip to Royal Ascot to wait for a tilt at this £250,000 prize that has been won by Richard Hannon on seven occasions in recent years.

Lilbourne Lass was sent off the 4-1 favourite to give Hannon an eighth Super Sprint success and appeared to be in a winning position on the far rail before an inspired Hanagan produced Peniaphobia at the right time to get up and score by a neck.

Fahey said: “I’m delighted for the owners and I told them this was their race.

“This is a great race for the smaller owner, and I told them I had targeted the horse at the race. It’s a great race to win, it’s been Richard Hannon’s race and I just joked with him it’s about time someone else won it.”

Hanagan said: “It means a lot to win the race for Fahey – it’s fantastic to give the old boss a winner in a race like this.”

Fahey’s impressive run of success continued at Redcar yesterday when New Street took the opener, denying the Johnston-trained Blue Atlantic.

It was a rare setback for the Middleham stable, whose four winners on Thursday were followed by a first ever six-timer on Friday and four more winners on Saturday.

Two of those successes came at Ripon, the opening meeting of the Go Racing festival, when Salutation and Mushaakis took the two feature races.

Johnston’s other successes came at Newbury where the industrious Lanark took the opener before Galician gamely landed the fillies’ handicap.

Both were ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, who made it a hat-trick when the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Royal Empire ran out a ready winner of the Sharps Brewery Steventon Stakes.

De Sousa, who came to prominence with Johnston in 2011 before joining Godolphin, is the man entrusted with the ride on Declamation tonight.

Ektihaam, the horse that slipped and unseated Paul Hanagan at Royal Ascot, is set to represent leading owner Hamdan Al Maktoum in Saturday’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, with Mukhadram set to line up in the Sky Bet York Stakes.

Mukhadram was outbattled by Al Kazeem in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot before suffering interference when the two clashed in Sandown’s Eclipse Stakes at the beginning of the month.

Saddler’s Rock, the 2011 Doncaster Cup hero, will bid to put a disappointing Royal Ascot effort behind him when he defends his crown in the Artemis Goodwood Cup next week.

“We were a bit disappointed with him in the Gold Cup. The race was run to suit him, but he ran a little bit flat. He’s had a good interval now, so hopefully he can run up to his best at Goodwood,” said trainer John Oxx, who enjoyed so much success with the legendary Sea The Stars.

The Brandsby stables where Peter Beaumont trained Jodami to win the 1993 Cheltenham Gold Cup are to have a new tenant.

Rebecca Menzies, an assistant at Ferdy Murphy’s North Yorkshire stables, is to begin a training venture with her partner Tony Kelly, a conditional jump jockey.

Murphy, meanwhile, is close to finalising his anticipated move to France.

York apprentice jockey Jacob Butterfield continued his fine recent run at Redcar yesterday when McMonagle prevailed.

tom.richmond@ypn.co.uk